BHUBANESWAR: India rode on a brace of goals by forward Mandeep Singh to fight back brilliantly from a two-goal deficit and prevail 4-3 against New Zealand in the opening match of the FIH Pro League Season 4 at the Kalinga Stadium here on Friday.
It was a lionhearted performance from the Indians as they went ahead early in the first quarter but were staring down the barrel as the Black Sticks scored once in the second quarter and twice in the third to make it 3-1. The Indians played attacking hockey with a lot of cohesion and defended superbly as they came back despite being a man down for 10 minutes in the third quarter.
Mandeep Singh scored in the 51st and 56th minutes while Harmanpreet Singh (41st min) and Mandeep Mor (13th min) scored for India, while for New Zealand, Sam Lane scored a brace in the 22nd and 35th minutes while Jake Smith contributed a goal in the 34th minute.
The two teams were evenly matched when it came to shots at goal with India having nine and New Zealand having 11. The Black Sticks however earned 11 penalty corners as compared to only 1 for India. IANS
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