The Indian colts suffered their second consecutive loss in the Volvo invitational under-21 hockey tournament, going down 2-1 to The Netherlands here on Wednesday.
Bram van Groesen (18th and 57th) struck a brace for the hosts while Armaan Qureshi (59th) pulled one back for India.
Suraj Karkera was brilliant under the bar, making quite a few saves, including all the penalty corner attempts by the Dutch.
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In the 18th minute, the hosts were awarded a penalty stroke, which was easily converted by van Groesen. Stung by the reverse, the Indians attacked from both flanks. However, the strong Dutch defence kept them at bay.
In the 57th minute, van Groesen made it 2-0 for the hosts.
Two minutes later, striker Armaan Qureshi reduced the margin off a fierce hit.
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The Indians, in a bid to equalise, played more aggressively and earned a few penalty corners. However, they failed to convert any.
The result: The Netherlands 2 (van Groesen 18 & 57) bt India 1 (Qureshi 57).