New Delhi: India suffered their second consecutive defeat in the Hero Hockey World League Final with a comprehensive 1-3 loss to a much superior New Zealand in a Pool A match at the Major Dhayan Chand National Stadium here on Saturday.
Stephen Jenness (40th, 50th minutes) struck in the second half after Shea McAleese had virtually knocked the wind out of India’s sails by scoring from the first move of the match. Mandeep Singh (68th) scored India’s consolation goal by slapping in a cross from V.R. Raghunath.
It was another disjointed performance by the Indians. There were too many mis-passes and co-ordination was woefully absent. The mid-field and relatively inexperienced strike force were comfortably shutout by the well organised Kiwi defence. The hosts are now at the bottom of the group with no points while New Zealand are third with three points.
New Zealand scored within 30 seconds of the start when McAleese picked up a through from the left before beating goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh.
Jenness deflected in Phil Burrows’ long cross to double New Zealand’s lead minutes after the break. He piled on even more misery on the hosts when he scored with a back hand hit after outfoxing a defender.
Mandeep struck late to reduce the margin but it was too little too late.
In the other Pool A match, England produced a major surprise by beating strong favourites Germany 2-1. All the goals came in the opening half with Tom Carson (4th min) and Ashley Jackson (21st, PC) scoring for England on either side of Marko Miltkau’s 11th-minute strike for Germany. England now top the group with six points.
In Pool B, Argentina, who made a dream start with victory over title contenders Holland, continued their fine run with a 3-2 win over higher ranked Belgium.
Tom Boon (6th, 34th) had given Belgium the lead in the first half. Pedro Ibarra (22nd) kept Argentina in the game by beating five rival defenders to score.
