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The Indian Men's Hockey Team kicked off their South Africa Tour on Monday with a stunning 4-0 win against the hosts of Paris Olympics Games France here in Cape Town.
While India's defence remained resolute with France unable to breach past the experience of PR Sreejesh and Krishan Pathak in the goalpost, India scored a flurry of goals backed by an excellent penalty-corner attack. India's first goal came in the 13th minute through Harmanpreet Singh exceptional dragflick. He added to his team's scoreline in the 26th minute via PC, improving on his drag flick to score past the French goalie. Interestingly, India's third goal too came off a brilliant PC variation where the team's experienced forward Lalit Upadhyay converted the goal in the 42nd minute. In the 49th minute, experienced attacking midfielder and Vice Captain Hardik Singh took India's lead to a formidable 4-0 through a finely executed field goal, ensuring his team registered a splendid win. The week-long tournament features France, the Netherlands, India and hosts South Africa. On January 24, India will face France in their second match, followed by a match against hosts South Africa on January 26 and will take on the Netherlands on January 28. Meanwhile, the pools for the Paris Olympics 2024 men's and women's hockey tournaments have been revealed, with the Indian men's hockey team drawn along with top teams like the second-ranked team Belgium, which is also the defending champions in men's competition and Australia, the three-time World Cup champions. International Hockey Federation (FIH) issued a statement announcing the same. -Women Pool A: Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Japan, China and FrancePool B: Australia, Argentina, Great Britain, Spain, United States and South Africa -Men Pool A: Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, France and South AfricaPool B: Belgium, India, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Ireland Notably, the Indian women's hockey team failed to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics following a semifinal finish in the Tokyo Olympics. In the FIH Women's Hockey Qualifiers held recently, India reached the semifinals, where they lost to Germany by 3-4 on penalties. In the third-place finish match, they lost to Japan by 0-1 and fumbled their last chance to qualify for the multi-sport extravaganza. (ANI)
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