The Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams started their FIH Hockey Pro League 2024-25 campaign separately at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar on Saturday (February 15). While the Indian women’s team won 3-2 in a tough match against England, the men’s team suffered a 3-1 defeat against Spain.
On one hand, the women’s team performed brilliantly despite some weaknesses in their defense and scored their first three points, while on the other hand, the men’s team failed to penetrate Spain’s strong defense. Taking revenge for the defeat in the 2024 Paris Olympics, Spain tasted victory against the Indian team.
Great Win For The Women’s Team
The Indian women’s hockey team performed brilliantly against England and registered a thrilling 3-2 win. Although the team struggled a bit at the beginning of the match, it gradually gained control of the game and won the match. During the match, a tough fight was seen between the two teams, where the defense performed brilliantly. India got the lead in penalty corners (PC), where the team converted two out of three penalty corners into goals and took a 2-1 lead within 25 minutes.
It looked like this scoreline would remain till the end of the match, but England’s Fiona Crackles scored in the last minute to make the score 2-2. While the spectators were preparing for the shootout, Navneet Kaur scored a goal in the last minute with a brilliant finishing, beating England goalkeeper Miriam Pritchard and giving India the win.
Spain Avenged Its Olympic Defeat
In the men’s team match, the Indian players had to struggle against Spain’s strong defense. This match was the opposite of the bronze medal match of the 2024 Olympics, in which India had won, but this time Max Caldas’ team avenged the defeat. However, India had a chance to take the lead at the beginning of the match, when Jugraj Singh made a strong flick in the third minute, but the Spanish rusher saved it brilliantly. After this, the match slowly started going in favor of Spain, where they adopted a brilliant strategy to stop the Indian attack.
Sukhjeet Singh Scored The First Goal
The first goal of the match was scored in the 25th minute when Hockey India League’s best player Sukhjeet Singh scored a brilliant reverse hit between two defenders to give India a 1-0 lead. However, two minutes later, taking advantage of the Indian defence’s lapse, Borja Lacalle scored for Spain to make the score 1-1.
In the second half, Spain completely dominated the match. They earned consecutive penalty corners and took the lead in the 38th minute. After this, the Indian team tried to equalize, but the Spanish defense did not give any chance. In the last four minutes, Bruno Avila scored another goal to ensure Spain’s victory and India had to face a 3-1 defeat.
