Sardar Singh & Co take on Australia in hockey final today with an aim to shrug off bad memories of their 0-8 defeat in the 2010 Delhi CWG final clash
Team India celebrate a goal against Kiwis on Saturday. Pic/PTI
Glasgow: India came from two goals down to edge out New Zealand 3-2 in the hockey semi-finals of the 20th Commonwealth Games here on Saturday and set up a repeat final of the 2010 edition with holders Australia.
Team India celebrate a goal against Kiwis on Saturday. Pic/PTI
Trailing 0-2 in the 18th minute, India sans regular skipper Sardar Singh were revived by strikes from stand-in-captain Rupinder Singh Pal, Ramandeep Singh and Akashdeep Singh, who ensured at least a silver medal for the country.
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The Kiwis drew first blood in the second minute with Simon Child taking a neat cross pass to put the ball screeching into the net.
Kiwis start well
The Black Sticks continued with their fine show and three minutes later, Hugo Inglis fired at the net again but this time it was stopped by the Indian goalkeeper Sreejesh Ravindran.
Indian fullback Rupinder also came up a with a forceful hit at the Kiwi net but goalkeeper Hamish McGregor was alert to put the strike at bay.
The New Zealanders missed a penalty corner in the 10th minute but they did not repeat the mistake when they got the next opportunity, as hard-hitter Nick Haig scored on the rebound to double the lead in the 18th minute.
Indians got their one and only penalty corner in the 27th minute and drag flicker V R Raghunath hit the chest of a Kiwi player on the net.
The on-field referee gave India a penalty stroke as part of obstruction. Rupinder, who took the stroke, gave India their first goal in the 28th minute. Coming from the bench after a two-minute suspension post a green card, Child missed an open goal in the dying minutes of the first half as the scoreline read 2-1 after 35 minutes.
Child kept the Indian defenders on their toes even in the second half, as one his hits just went wide of the net in the 37th minute.
India also counter-attacked and it finally paid off with Ramandeep getting the equaliser in the 42nd minute. He capitalised on a fine deflection from Manpreet Singh's angular pass and McGregor could do little to stop the ball from entering the net.
Close battle
It was a close battle between the two sides here at the National hockey Center and it was Akashdeep, who soon showed his brilliance with the stick in the 47th minute by reverse flicking an S V Sunil pass into the net to give India lead for the first time in the match.
Akashdeep though soon got a two-minute suspension after a Green Card. Ramandeep also missed a chance and the tension grew in both the camps.
The Indian side, coached by Terry Walsh, will have to shrug off the bad memories of their 0-8 final defeat against the Aussies in the 2010 Delhi edition of the Games when they take field against the World Champions today.
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