India end campaign with a loss to Germany

Dusseldorf, Hosts Germany overpowered Indian 2-0 in an action-packed encounter to end their campaign at the three-nation men’s hockey tournament on a winning note here today. Germany had previously won 2-1 against Belgium, drew 2-2 with India and lost 5-2 to Belgium. They finished with seven points while India earned four points from their outings. Belgium finished with six points.
Though India began well and won a penalty corner as early as the second minute of the match, the German defence was too good for young drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh, who had scored a double in India’s 3-2 win against Belgium yesterday.
The following minutes of the first quarter saw Germany, bronze medallists at the Rio Olympics, dominate ball possession to take early control of the match.
They found success with Thies Ole Prinz deflecting the ball into the goal in the seventh minute.
They earned a penalty corner seconds before the first break but India goalkeeper Akash Chikte came up with a good save.
India played the second quarter patiently, rotating the ball and waiting for an opening in the German defence.
After several circle penetrations, India bagged their second penalty corner of the game in the 29th minute. The opportunity went amiss and the first half ended with a 1-0 advantage to Germany.
After a goalless third quarter, India continued to challenge the Germans, getting closer each time to finding a breakthrough. Three minutes from time, India won another penalty corner but Harmanpreet’s flick was saved by the German goalkeeper. India pulled out their goalkeeper but could not find the equaliser. Germany, meanwhile, succeeded in pumping in their second goal in the 60th minute, thanks to Timm Herzbruch.
On Wednesday, India leave for London for the Hockey World League Semifinal. They will play a couple of practice matches before their tournament opener against Scotland on June 15.