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India juniors off to winning start in World Cup
India started their Hockey Junior World Cup campaign on a high when they drubbed Canada 4-0 in their first league match at Lucknow on December 8.
Lucknow
India broke the deadlock in the 35th minute when Mandeep Singh hammered home a rebound chance from close range to give the Canadian goalkeeper no chance to pull off a save. Within nine minutes, India doubled the lead when Harmanpreey Singh made use of a penalty stroke chance to put the ball into the net with a calm finish. India made it 3-0 by the hour mark when Varun Kumar produced a scintillating display of hockey to prouduce a stunning finish past the Canadian keeper. The home team put the contest to bed in the 66th minute when Ajit Kumar Pandey was alert to tap home from close range, scoring India’s fourth goal.
Canada never recovered from the blows and couldn’t make any inroads as India romped home in style. Earlier, six-time champions Germany started their title defence on a shaky note by eking out a close 2-1 win over Spain in a Pool C match at the Major Dhyan Chand Astroturf Stadium on Thursday.
Germany opened the scoring in the 25th minute of the match through Anton Boeckel’s field strike to go into half time with a one-goal cushion. But Spain forged their way back after the break and levelled the scores when Manual Bordas Fabregas found the net with a field effort in the 48th minute. The Germans, though, had the last laugh scoring the winner seven minutes from regulation time through a penalty corner conversion by Timm Herzbruch (63rd minute).
Even though the Germans managed to gather three points from the encounter, the show was far from convincing from the Valentin Altenburgcoached side who are regarded as one of the front-runners for the title. In the opening match of the tournament earlier in the day, New Zealand scrapped past lowly Japan 1-0 in Pool C. New Zealand’s Sam Lane scored the goal of the match in the 41st minute. In another match England beat South Africa 4-2.
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