India earned its first point in the Hockey World League Final with a well-fought 3-3 draw against Olympic champion Germany on Monday.
It was the best performance by the host in the tournament so far and though the Indians finished at the bottom of Pool A, they would take away a lot of positives from the game.
Rupinderpal Singh and Dharamvir scored for India while one was an own goal. For Germany, Thilo Stralkowski and Martin Haner scored while India conceded an own goal as well.
Australia thrashes ArgentinaEarlier in the day, World No. 2 Australia finally proved its class, after two matches that saw it struggling to score, with a 6-1 thrashing of Argentina in its last Pool B league match of the Hero Hockey World League at the National Stadium here on Monday.
With this win, Australia also climbed to the top of Pool B with six points, same as Argentina but with a better goal difference.
It was also a reality check for the Pan-American champion Argentina, which had been unbeaten in the tournament so far.
The goal-fest began in the third minute when Daniel Beale slammed a backhand shot high into the net from the top of the striking circle.
The kookaburras scored field goals and converted penalty corners and strokes to be up 3-0 inside 15 minutes of play.
Argentina, which had been impressive with its attacking play in the previous two games, was clueless in the face of the relentless attack. Australia scored at will, piercing the defence with sharp passes. The experienced Glenn Turner and Russell Ford kept played their role of providers to perfection.
The Australians played at a pace that left their opponents struggling to play catch-up. The lone goal for Argentina came when Facundo Callioni beat Australian goalkeeper Tyler Lovell in the 32nd minute with a low shot from the left.
In another Pool B match, the Netherlands and Belgium played out a 2-2 draw to complete their league engagements. Belgium earned its first point in the competition while the Netherlands finished third ahead of the quarterfinals.
Talismanic Belgian striker Tom Boon went on top of the goalscorers’ table with his fourth goal of the competition, level with Govers.
Earlier, England continued to be the lone undefeated team in the competition when it beat New Zealand 5-1 in Pool A.
While the teams were content playing a midfield game in the first half with only one goal scored – Ashley Jackson converting a penalty corner in the 30th minute – they went on all-out attack in the second. England dominated the proceedings to finish on top of the pool with nine points.
The results:
Pool A: India 3 (Rupinderpal Singh, Dharamvir Singh, Own Goal) drew with Germany 3 (Thilo Stralkowski, Martin Haner, Own Goal).
England 5 (Ashley Jackson 2, Mark Gleghorne, Tom Carson, Barry Middleton) beat New Zealand 1 (Hugo Inglis).
Pool B: Australia 6 (Kieran Govers 2, Daniel Beale, Mark Knowles, Russell Ford, Jason Wilson) beat Argentina 1 (Facundo Callioni).
The Netherlands 2 (Constatijn Jonker, Jeroen Hertzberger) drew with Belgium 2 (Felix Denayer, Tom Boon).
