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The Indian Men's and Women's Hockey teams opened their FIH Hockey Pro League campaigns on home soil at the Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneswar, playing eight matches each between February 15 to 25.
The Men's team delivered a stellar performance, winning five matches out of eight and sitting third in the standings with 15 points, just one point behind joint-leaders England and Spain. They opened their campaign with a 1-3 loss against Spain, but bounced back well with a 2-0 win against the same opposition. The Men's team next faced World No.4 Germany and despite losing the first match, showed great defensive resilience the very next day to edge out a 1-0 win over the Germans. They then built on their momentum with back-to-back dominant wins over Ireland. India was dealt an unfortunately 2-3 loss against seasoned rivals England but thanks to a brace from Captain Harmanpreet Singh in the next fixture, the home side replied with a hard fought 2-1 victory to end their Bhubaneswar leg on a high, a release said. Mandeep Singh and Sukhjeet Singh were the standout performers for the Men's team bagging three crucial goals each for the side while 21-year-old Rajinder Singh showed great promise. The Women's team on the other hand had their ups and downs in the opening matches of the tournament. With two wins and two draws, India are currently sixth on the leaderboard with nine points. The Women's side opened their tournament on the strong foot with a 3-2 win and a draw over England. The women's side was then dealt three losses on the trot, two against Spain and one against Germany, whom they defeated 1-0 in the following fixture. In the final two games, India showed great valour and determination against World No.1 side the Netherlands. Despite losing the first fixture 2-4, India did well winning over 13 penalty corners and pushing the Dutch side to their limit. On the final day, India made a remarkable comeback to draw the game 2-2 and went on to win the bonus point in the shootout to end their home leg on a high. Reflecting on his team's performances, captain Harmanpreet Singh stated, "I am extremely proud of the way the boys have performed. Winning five matches out of eight has given us a solid start to the tournament and we will build on this in the upcoming games. I am especially impressed with the young players who stepped up when needed and helped us win important points," as quoted from a release by Hockey India. "Also a special thank you to all the fans who turned up to cheer for us in the stadium. Your continuous support means the world to the team and we promise to give our best on the field ahead," he added. Women's team captain Salima Tete echoed a similar sentiment and said, "The result against the Netherlands has given us a lot of confidence because now we believe we can beat any team in the world. All the players have sacrificed a lot over the last few months and that is why we have got such positive results. Playing against such world class opponents has also benefited the younger players in the squad and they are now more prepared for the upcoming games. In the next camp we will focus on converting penalty corners and do better in shootouts since we need to do better in those departments." (ANI)
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