Four Nations Hockey: India to open 2nd leg campaign against host New Zealand
India would be aiming to put behind the disappointment of a first-leg final loss when they open their campaign against hosts New Zealand in the second leg of the Four Nations Invitational Hockey Tournament, in Hamilton on Wednesday.
In the first leg of the tournament, India got off to a good start with 6-0 win against Japan but lost 0-2 to Belgium in the following match. Winning 3-1 against hosts New Zealand, who had beaten Belgium 5-4 in their first match, put the Manpreet Singh-led Indian team in the final. India topped the pool table with a total of nine goals, having conceded only three in the pool stage while Belgium scored ten goals but conceded six.
“As a team we have made progress match after match. We had four young players make their debut and even scored in matches which is good,” said chief coach Sjoerd Marijne about the team’s performance in the first leg. “We came close to beating Olympic Silver Medallist Belgium which gives us a lot of confidence going into an important calendar year for hockey,” he added.
Though his team lost a closely-contested final 1-2 to Belgium, Marijne feels the result was a positive. “You must understand …read more