Sukhjeet Singh shines, Harmanpreet Singh scores late as India end Pro League with a win to snap losing streak

Scoreline: India 4 (Sukhjeet Singh 21′, 35′, Amit Rohidas 36′, Harmanpreet Singh 59′) vs Belgium 3 (Arthur de Sloover 8′, Thibeau Stockbroekx 34′, Hugo Labouchere 41′)
After cutting a frustrating figure on Saturday at half-time – losing his cool for a brief moment, uncharacteristically – Craig Fulton was more philosophical, speaking ahead of India's final match of the dismal European leg of the FIH Pro League. Seven defeats in seven matches, six of those by one-goal margins, some unfortunate missed opportunities along the way… did he feel India had been unlucky? 'I mean, life's not fair at the end of the day, and so on we go, you know?'
What followed was a cracking match of hockey as India managed to end the losing streak in their last match of the season, beating a relatively inexperienced Belgium side 4-3 in Antwerp on Sunday. In a feisty, frantic and often fabulous to-and-fro encounter, Sukhjeet Singh scored twice and won the decisive (and somewhat controversial) penalty stroke, which Harmanpreet Singh converted in the 59th minute for a late winner.
The Indians received a shot in the arm in terms of team news as Harmanpreet returned to lead the side – albeit in a limited role from the bench – after missing the last few matches due to a hand injury. Belgium were also experimenting with their squad with the likes of Alexander Hendrickx and Tom Boon not in the squad. But no Belgian side is easy to beat at this level, so India still had their task cut out.
India started like they meant business. The first sign that Sukhjeet was going to have a major influence on the game came early when Amit Rohidas threw an aerial from the edge of the Indian circle all the way into the Belgium third, showing stunning range on the pass. Sukhjeet brought it down the right channel and put the ball across into the danger area. Dilpreet tried to convert from close range, but the Belgian defence held on.
But Belgium would open the scoring soon. Arthur de Sloover drove with purpose into the Indian circle, exchanging 1-2s – first, intentionally with his teammate and then unintentionally with an Indian stick – and lifted the ball over Krishan Pathak's shoulders. It's becoming a somewhat worrying chink in the Indian goalkeeper's armour as he's not the tallest of goalkeepers, and he got beaten by a high ball not for the first time on this tour. It was still a fine finish, nevertheless.
With Harmanpreet back on the pitch to take penalty corners, India hit back. This time it was a lovely little variation, as the captain went low on the turf instead of his all-out powerful flick, and Sukhjeet dived in with a deflection. It is the sort of goal Vandana Katariya scored frequently for the Indian women's team during her decorated career.
With India piling on the pressure, Belgium nearly scored what would have been one of the goal-of-the-season contenders. From the left byline, a pressure-releasing aerial found Thibeau Stockbroekx down the right flank. He controlled the ball on the bounce and drove forward towards the Indian goal at speed and unleashed a powerful forehand shot that beat Pathak but hit the post. End of the first half, India missed a golden chance to take the lead. Abhishek did superbly to pick the pocket of Victor Wegnez at the edge of Belgium's circle, but missed the target from close range.
Stockbroekx would punish India for that missed chance early in the third quarter as he completed a sweeping move from right to left, lifting from close range after Suraj Karkera made a save.
To their credit, India hit back almost immediately, as Sukhjeet was alert to a loose ball after Abhishek was fouled at the edge of the circle and the Belgian defence briefly switched off. It was just a good old low forehand strike that beat the goalkeeper on his near post. Shortly after, Rohidas fired in a low hit from a PC to put India ahead. Hugo Labouchere brought things back from a PC for Belgium in what was a basketball-esque third quarter. And just when it looked like Manpreet Singh had scored a rare goal, the video referee deemed that the time had run out.
With both teams pushing for a win in the final quarter, a lengthy video review after an Indian challenge rather surprisingly was deemed as a stroke for a push on Sukhjeet's back by De Sloover. But after not being pleased with some refereeing decisions earlier on the tour, Fulton wouldn't have minded seeing the rub of green go his side's way as Harmanpreet converted the stroke.
Before heading off to Europe, Fulton said the team was looking at the eight-match European block as a chance to not just get used to conditions at the two venues for next year's World Cup, but also an early opportunity to get a qualification spot. But as the tour wound down, those hopes were dashed. 'We just need to be practical around where we are. This is where we are,' he said. 'We have an Asia Cup that we're looking forward to, and we need to win (for World Cup qualification). We're building towards that, and then, once we've done that, we look further to the World Cup and Asian Games. We've had what has happened and we need to use it, learn from it.' There wasn't much at stake on Sunday in terms of India's position on the table, but the tide eventually turned, and the Indian team had something to smile about as they return home with plenty to ponder.
Vinayakk Mohanarangan is Senior Assistant Editor and is based in New Delhi. ... Read More

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