Team India won FIH Hockey 5
India made a stunning comeback after going three goals down to beat Poland 6-4 in the final of the FIH Hockey 5S Championship on Sunday.
India, who had topped the five-team league standings with three wins and a draw en route final, ended their campaign with an unbeaten record.
It was India’s second win of the day over the same opponents. India had beaten second-placed Poland 6-2 with two wins and the same number of losses in a round-robin league match three-and-a-half hours earlier in the day.
Poland played just one match against India’s two on Sunday before the final and it could probably have some effect on Graham Reid’s men in a fast-paced format, played in just 20 minutes in a match.
Sanjay and captain Gurinder Singh found the target in the eighth and ninth minutes respectively to quickly reconnect the Indian team from the opening setback and fell 2-3 to breathe.
It was only a matter of time before the Indians got their mojo back as they took a 4-3 lead following a brilliant field goal from Dhami Bobby Singh and the tournament’s top scorer Raheel Mohammad.
And then there was no locking as Raheel and Singh scored their respective second goals of the match.
Polish captain Jacek Kurowski pulled back once in the 18th minute to close the gap.
Raheel finished the tournament at the top of the goalscorer’s chart with 10 goals from five matches.
Earlier, India scored four goals in the second half to beat Malaysia 7-3 in a scintillating performance before beating Poland 6-2 in the second match of the first day. India were at the top of the five-team standings after the round-robin league stage with 10 points from three wins and one draw. India on Saturday played host Switzerland 4-3 and arch-rivals Pakistan 2-2.
(Inputs from PTI)