Indian created history by beating Belgium 2-1 in the final of the Hockey Junior World Cup in Lucknow and lifted the coveted trophy. The Indian team celebrated the victory by breaking into an impromptu bhanga as the Belgium players looked devastated to lose in their maiden final appearance. The junior Indian team was playing in their third final and deservingly emerged world champions after a gap of 15 years. The first host country to do so.

Egged on by a vociferous home support at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium, India dominated proceedings from the world go and took the lead in the 8^th minute through Gurjant Singh. The move  started with a scoop by Sumit, Gurjant trapped it and sent the ball into the goal with a rasping reverse flick from an impossible angle. A brilliant goal by Gurjant, his second of the tournament, earned him the man of the match award.

Indians kept their aggressive streak but took the halftime break leading only by the solitary goal.

India’s second goal came in the 22nd minute. Simranjeet Singh drove home from top of the circle after being set up by Nilakanta Sharma.

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In the dying minutes of the match, Belgium found a consolation goal through a penalty corner. 

India had won their first title in 2001 in Hobart. In 1997, India won the silver after losing to Australia in the final in Milton Keynes, England.

India are only one step away from realising the dream of earning their only second Hockey Junior World Cup title as they went past Australia 4-2 (2-2) via penalty shoot-out to set up a title showdown against Belgium in Lucknow.

Tom Craig’s goal in the 14th minute gave Australia the 1-0 lead but India equalised through Gurjant Singh (42nd minute) and led 2-1 with a goal from Mandeep Singh (48th).

But Lachlan Sharp’s successful deflection from a close angle in the 57th gave the visitors the equaliser as the match ended 2-2 in the regulation time at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium here.

In the shoot-out, Indian goalkeeper Vikash Dahiya saved twice to deny Australia the win, as Harjeet Singh, Harmanpreet, Sumit and Manpreet did their job to give the hosts a 4-2 win.

For Australia, Blake Govers and Jack Welch were successful during the shoot-out, while Matthew Bird and Sharp missed out, as they ended their hopes of winning the Under-21 showpiece after 1997.

India’s previous appearance in a final of the Junior Hockey World Cup came in 2001 when they won the title, defeating Argentina.

In the final on Sunday, India will meet Belgium, who beat double defending champions Germany, also in a penalty shoot-out 4-3 (0-0).

In the widely-anticipated clash between India and Australia, the boys from Down Under looked the better from the start. The high pressing of the Australians unsettled the Indian defensive structure and the visitors attacked consistently at the Indian post.

Following a poor tackle by an Indian defender, they earned a penalty corner in the 14th minute. Joshua Simmonds’ flick was blocked by the Indian defence but the ball moved towards Craig, who was near the left post of Indian goalkeeper Vikash Dahiya. Craig’s left-handed drive from a close angle guided the ball past an onrushing Dahiya to make it 1-0.

Australia continued to threaten India but Dahiya was alert to the task. He palmed away fiery penalty corner flick from Blake Govers in the 24th minute. Another penalty corner in the same minute was wasted by Australia following poor trapping by the stopper.

Till this time such was the Australian domination that India had failed to attempt a purposeful shot at the Australian post.

India slowly gained the rhythm and earned several scoring chances to equalise before the half-time. Australian goalkeeper Asleigh Thomas brought out his stick towards the right side to keep away a thunderous penalty corner flick from Harmanpreet Singh in the 29th minute.

Thomas came again to his side’s rescue as he blocked a Vikramjit Singh’s drive from the right. Simranjeet Singh too had the opportunity to make it 1-1 but his tap-in missed the mark by a whisker after Australian captain Samuel Liles couldn’t fully control a long-ranger aerial ball from Harmanpreet.

Trailing 0-1, India came out looking determined and disciplined and their tactics of drilling long passes — a distinct feature of their counter-attack.

One such quick counter-attack in the 42nd minute saw Simranjeet feeding just behind the half line to Gurjant, who sped away inside the Australian circle and employed a ripping reverse-hand strike from the right through the legs of custodian Thomas on the far post to make it 1-1.

India’s confidence was boosted after the equaliser and with the Lucknow crowd urging them on, the hosts found the lead six minutes later via Mandeep. The Indian blocked an aerial ball from Simmonds just 10 metres pass the ‘D’ and played an one-two with Nilakanta Sharma before hammering a simmering left-hand strike to make it 2-1.

Australia’s reaction to the goal was sharp as they earned a penalty corner but Dahiya stretched his right leg to deny a Blake Govers’ low flick.

However, the equaliser came in the 57th minute when Sharp smartly blocked Indian goalkeeper Dahiya’s vision to deflect in successfully.

Dahiya, however, made amends in the shoot-out as he stood strong in blocking two Australian efforts, paving the way for India’s entry into the final.

IANS

India beat Pakistan in a thrilling final to lift the Asian Champions Trophy. Ruperpinder Pal Singh and  Affan Yousuf gave India the lead and then Nitin Thimmaiah came up with the winner in the fourth quarter of a fascinating contest. It was a double delight for the Indian fans on Diwali as India got the better of their archrivals and defending champions 3-2 in Malaysia. 

Rupinderpal Singh’s brilliant drag flick gave India the lead. Minutes later India made it 2-0, when a terrific ball from Sardar Singh found Ramandeep Singh, whose hit was deflected in by Affan Yousuf.

Pakistan fought back to level 2-2 through goals from Aleem Bilal (PC) and Ali Shaan.

India pressed hard in the fourth quarter. And in the 50^th minute Nikkin Thimmaiah fired in the winner.

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Amid the diplomatic feud between the two countries who are erstwhile hockey masters, the result of the match bore much more significance than the title. And both the teams lived up to the expectations of the highly-anticipated clash. However, it was India who started the match brightly as Pakistan looked defensive at the beginning.

Dominating the possession, Indian earn a penalty corner when Birendra Lakra played to the foot of a defender in the seventh minute. But Jasjit Singh Kular’s flick went wide of the left post.

However, Pakistan didn’t take long to get into groove and two aerial balls — one to the top of the circle and another to the left of the circle — rattled the Indian defence. But Akash Chikte, standing in for injured premier goalkeeper and captain P.R. Sreejesh, was up to the challenge.

In the second quarter, India stepped up their game and they were rewarded. Penalty corner specialist Rupinder flicked high to beat Pakistan goalkeeper Amjad Ali in the 18th minute to mark his 11th goal of the tournament.

India moved in good rhythm and Talwinder Singh could have made it 2-0 when a move created by Thimmaiah was squared to him on the left but his reverse hit went above the bar on the right, with only goalkeeper Amjad to beat.

But India found the second goal two minutes later as Yousuf deflected in from close range a Ramandeep Singh’s square pass from the right after the latter was fed by Sardar Singh few yards behind the Pakistan circle.

Pakistan hit back and reduced the gap to one when a foul by Kothajit Singh led to a penalty corner and Bilal fired a grounder to the right-bottom corner of Chikte in the 26th minute.

Eight minutes into the third quarter, Pakistan benifitted and scored their equaliser from a defensive error from India as Shan slammed past Chikte at the near post on the left in the 38th minute. Rupinder made a poor trapping at the top of the ‘D’ and the ball went behind into the path of Sardar, who made a poor clearance before Shan grabbed the opportunity.

Further drama unfolded when Ramandeep claimed to have made it 3-2 for India in the 39th minute with a close-range deflection following a drive from the top of the circle by Kothajit. But the umpire’s referral showed that neither Lalit Upadhyay nor Ramandeep touched the ball.

Pakistan enjoyed some good moments and mounted attacks but the Indian defence stood tall.

Later, India regained the lead when a fierce counter-attack led by Akashdeep Singh saw him pass to Thimmaiah on the left and the Karnataka forward sounded the board with a drive at the far post for the crucial goal in the 51st minute.

Later, Pakistan made the mess of a penalty corner opportunity when the stopper failed to trap after the push as the time ran out and India stood strong to secure the win.

“It’s always good to win against Pakistan. Most of the time we dominated but Pakistan came back. We played compact hockey as we have done throughout the tournament. It’s a great win,” Sardar said after the win.

IANS

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