An electrifying atmosphere and vociferous fans could not inspire India enough as it lost 1-0 in its opening Pool A match against Germany in the Champions Trophy hockey tournament here on Saturday night. German forward Florian Fuchs slotted home the winner from a scramble in the final seconds.
Playing its first major international match after two eventful months, the Asian Games winner gave a rusty performance against the World No. 3, which was packed with some able youngsters. One aspect, however, remained unchanged — the courageous showing of P.R. Sreejesh under the bar which saved India from losing by a bigger margin.
The start seemed promising for India as it exerted pressure on several occasions through some speedy run down the flanks. A fine cross from V.R. Raghunath and a beautiful through ball from Danish Mujtaba had no takers in the opening quarter. This allowed the Germans to push hard and the nine-time champion earned two penalty corners in seventh and eighth minutes.
India averted further trouble when it appealed for a video referral and overturned a penalty stroke awarded to Germany.
About a minute remaining in the first period, India took the help of another video referral to win a penalty corner, but the young Gurjinder Singh was too predictable for the opponent defenders.
Germany tried to control the pace in order to cut out the host’s attacking efforts and orchestrate a few raids.
An ever alert Sreejesh, who was later named the man of the match, foiled two dangerous attempts to ensure a clean sheet for the home team at half-time. India had a fabulous opportunity to draw first blood when Danish sped alone on the right to cross it over to Sardar.
The captain tried his best but could not beat German custodian Nicolas Jacobi, who rushed forward to blunt the move.
In a fine start to the tournament, England rode on a brilliant brace from debutant Samuel Ward to stun World Cup winner and five-time defending champion Australia 3-1 in a Pool A match and record its first ever win over the Kookaburras in the history of the event.
Belgium, mourning the death of its Queen Fabiola, defeated Pakistan 2-1 to post its maiden victory over the last edition’s bronze medallist.
