India ends Bhubaneswar leg of FIH Pro League on high note

In hockey, both the Indian Men’s and Women’s teams ended the Bhubaneswar leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League on a high note last evening.

The Men’s team secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory over England at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. Skipper Harmanpreet Singh led from the front, scoring twice to lift India to third place in the standings. India earned their first penalty corner in the 26th minute, and Harmanpreet fired a powerful strike down the centre to give India a 1-Nil lead. Four minutes later, England quickly responded, with skipper Conor Williamson scoring from a penalty to make it 1-1. However, the home crowd erupted again in the 33rd minute when Harmanpreet struck



his second goal, securing India’s victory.

Earlier, the Indian Women’s team pulled off a thrilling shootout win against Olympic champions Netherlands in their final home match at the same venue. The Netherlands led 2-Nil at halftime with goals from Pien Sanders and Fay van der Elst. However, India staged a strong comeback, with Deepika and Baljeet Kaur scoring to level the match. In the shootout, Deepika and Mumtaz Khan found the net for India, while Marijn Veen was the only scorer for the Netherlands. With this win, the Indian Women’s team secured the sixth position in the standings with nine points from eight games.