The Indian men’s hockey team booked a place in the semi-finals of the Commonwealth Games 2022 with a 4-1 win over Wales in Birmingham on Thursday.
Harmanpreet Singh (18′, 19′, 41′) scored a hat-trick in the match, while Gurjant Singh (49′) also added a goal as the duo helped their team to a solid victory in the gritty contest. Gareth Furlong (55′) scored a consolation goal for Wales in the match.
Commonwealth Games 2022 – full coverage , deep in , India Focus , off the ground , in pictures , medal tally
India made a cautious start, maintaining their hold in the midfield as Wells was buried deep inside India’s half. In-form forward Mandeep Singh managed to break through the shackles and enter the striking circle, but Wells managed to remove the threat.
Wells forward James Carson took a shot on the target but India Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh made a brilliant save to negate the opposition. Mandeep Singh created a chance in the last few seconds of the first quarter, but the Welsh defense blocked a shot on target, and the scoreline remained 0–0.
Mandeep Singh continued to put pressure on the Welsh defense after scoring a dangerous run from the left flank in the opening minutes of the second quarter. Harmanpreet Singh put India in front while scoring the first goal of the match from a penalty corner.
A minute later Harmanpreet Singh scored another goal from another penalty corner. At halftime, Wells went ahead in numbers as James Carson broke through the Indian defense. He passed the ball to Rupert Schipperley, who hit it wide and India went 2-0 up at halftime.
The second half began with Abhishek earning a free hit for India in a dangerous area, which earned the Indian team another penalty corner. But this time, Harmanpreet Singh’s powerful drag-flick was saved by Rupert Shipperley.
The pair of Jarmanpreet Singh and Akashdeep Singh took a great step. But Gurjant Singh’s final pass in front of the goal went wide, providing much relief to the Welsh defense. Harmanpreet Singh completed his hat-trick as he successfully converted a penalty stroke, taking his total goals in the tournament to 9.
Read also| CWG 2022 Live Updates, Day 7: Sindhu enters round of 16, Hima Das qualifies for 200m cms
Wells began to show momentum in the final quarter after trailing by three goals. Neelkant Sharma made a beautiful pass to Akashdeep Singh inside the striking circle, but his shot on target went off the goalpost.
A few minutes later, Gurjant Singh bowled a ball into the nets to extend India’s lead to 4-0. Goalkeeper Krishan B Pathak made a tremendous save as Gareth Furlong took a shot on the target from the penalty corner. But minutes later, Gareth Furlong converted after India conceded another penalty corner, scoring a consolation goal for Wales. India managed to maintain their lead till the last whistle and won the match 4-1.
read the breaking news And today’s fresh news Here