London, June 24 (IANS) The Indian men’s hockey team started the London leg of their FIH Pro League European tour with a thrilling 4-3 victory over archrivals Pakistan at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre near London on Tuesday.

After a slow start in the opening quarter, India found their rhythm and went on to secure their third outright win of this Pro League season, thwarting a late scare by Pakistan. The victory moved India up to the seventh position in the points table.

Goals from Abhishek (22’), Nilakanta Sharma (24’), Sukhjeet Singh (40’), and Rajinder Singh (52’) guided India home in the high-voltage encounter.

The match began with both teams playing cautiously and trading early circle entries. Pakistan earned the first breakthrough in the 8th minute when Ahmad Nadeem capitalised on a penalty corner routine to make it 1-0. India immediately responded with aggressive attacks but struggled to find the goal-scoring touch.

In the final minute of the first quarter, India won three consecutive penalty corners. Still, Pakistan goalkeeper Ali Raza made a fine save against skipper Harmanpreet Singh’s dragflick, which was the nearest India came to scoring off those back-to-back short corners.

India turned up the heat with quick passing in the second quarter to find an equaliser. In the 22nd minute, Dilpreet Singh’s powerful shot was padded away by Raza, but Abhishek quickly pounced on the rebound to make it 1-1. Three minutes later, India won another penalty corner, where Nilakanta reacted the sharpest to the rebound and smashed the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs to put India ahead 2-1.

Goalkeeper Raza then stood tall for Pakistan later in the quarter, saving scoring attempts from penalty corners off the stick of Jugraj Singh in the 28th minute and Harmanpreet a minute later to keep the score 2-1 at halftime.

Pakistan increased their tempo in the third quarter, producing multiple circle entries, but the Indian backline held firm. Defender Amit Rohidas showed great composure to break up a dangerous two-on-one counter-attack led by Pakistan’s Nadeem. India then extended their lead in the 40th minute when Abhishek set up Sukhjeet inside the circle, who produced a handsome finish to make it 3-1.

The final quarter was filled with late drama as Pakistan pushed hard to reduce the deficit. After the Indian defence blocked back-to-back penalty corners in the 51st minute, the strikers launched a swift counter-attack to earn a PC in the 52nd minute. In a clever routine, Harmanpreet acted as a decoy, allowing Rajinder to fire the ball past substitute goalkeeper Waqar, which made it 4-1.

Pakistan fought back immediately as captain Abu Mahmood (53’) scored from a penalty-corner flick through the legs of Indian goalkeeper Suraj Karkera to make it 4-2. Jugraj missed a chance from India’s 11th penalty corner in the 56th minute, setting up a tense finish.

With just 14 seconds left on the clock, Pakistan’s Moin Shakeel (60’) scored on a rebound during a penalty-corner routine to make it 4-3, but India held their nerve in the final seconds to secure a hard-fought win.

–IANS

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