Hockey Pro League: India beat England in sudden death

BHUBANESWAR: A penalty stroke converted with 15 seconds remaining in the match denied India three points but another stroke missed in the sudden-death shoot-out got them a bonus point against England in a thrilling FIH Pro League match here on Saturday.

England's Sam Ward converted the first penalty stroke but pushed wide the all-important stroke in the shoot-out as India won the sudden death 3-2 and claimed two points while England had to be satisfied with one. With this win in the shoot-out, India moved to the top of the FIH Pro League table with 18 points from nine matches, one point ahead of Germany, who have a match in hand.

England stalwart Sam Ward was the hero as he converted a penalty stroke in the last seconds of the match to make it 3-3 for the visitors as they came back from a goal twice to hold India in regulation time. With both teams missing a few chances in the shoot-out, Abhishek scored with an assured effort to make it 2-2 from five attempts each in the shoot-out. Ward was left devastated when he missed a stroke in the sudden-death shoot-out when Indian goalkeeper Krishan Pathak was penalised for going to clear the ball after losing his helmet while trying to stop Liam Ansell in the shoot-out. In such a situation, the goalkeeper is supposed to pick his helmet instead of going for the ball. IANS

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