India beat Wales in the World Cup opener. (Pic credit: Hockey India)
NEW DELHI: India made a confident start to their FIH Hockey World Cup campaign, defeating Wales 3-1 in their opening Pool D match at the Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen on Saturday. The first 15 minutes ended with India comfortably ahead 2-0. The strike completed Harmanpreet’s brace and extended India’s lead to 3-0.
India therefore went into the half-time break with their two-goal advantage intact. Captain Harmanpreet Singh led from the front with a brace, scoring in the 11th and 43rd minutes, while Sanjay opened the scoring in the eighth minute as the former champions established control early in the contest. India’s dominance was reflected in their ability to make their penalty corners count. Sanjay converted India’s second penalty corner in the eighth minute with a powerful drag-flick to break the deadlock. Just three minutes later, Harmanpreet produced another quality drag-flick from a set-piece to double India’s advantage. The two goals gave India a strong platform and allowed them to dictate the tempo for much of the opening quarter. Wales struggled to create clear opportunities as India maintained pressure and repeatedly threatened to enter the attacking circle. Wales did make one promising move into the Indian circle, but their effort struck the side of the goal. India earned a penalty corner early in the quarter but could not convert it, while a late attempt from the top of the Wales circle in the 30th minute went just wide. India eventually found their first clear opportunity of the quarter in the 43rd minute, and Harmanpreet made no mistake. India earned a penalty corner after a prolonged spell without one, and the captain stepped up to fire home his second goal of the match. It was another demonstration of the captain’s drag-flick quality and gave India a commanding advantage heading into the final quarter.