London: India exploited a rusty German defence, punching three goals as the Harmanpreet Singh-led side outclassed the world champions to make a winning start to the London leg of the FIH Pro Hockey League here on Saturday.
Drag-flicker Harmanpreet (16th minute), Sukhjeet Singh (41st) and Gurjant Singh (44th) tormented an out-of-sorts young German side, which started off on a roaring note but could not sustain the momentum for long.
The world No. 5 India, with 24 points from 13 outings are third, while Argentina, whom India defeated twice during the Antwerp leg of the Pro League are second with 26 points from 14 matches.
Netherlands are leading the table with 26 points from 12 games.
Goalkeeping stalwart PR Sreejesh stood rock solid against a relentless German attack in the first quarter, thwarting two penalty corners before Harmanpreet’s penalty corner conversion in the first minute of the second quarter turned the tables on world No. 3 side.
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The India skipper’s low flick aimed to the left of German goalkeeper Alexander Stadler took a deflection off the first rusher Barry Antheus before sounding the board in the 16th minute.
Sukhjeet then doubled the lead in the 41st minute. Picking up the ball on the wing, he gave a through pass to Abhishek and made a dash to the circle. Abhishek relayed the ball back to Sukhjeet, who unleashed an unstoppable shot past the German goalkeeper.
Gurjant then lined up the third goal for India three minutes later.
Sanjay played the ball to Jarmanpreet Singh on the goal-line. The defender then flicked the ball back to Gurjant, who scooped it past Stadler to signal India’s dominance.
All along, a jittery German side tried its best to breach the Indian defence but to no avail with Sreejesh showcasing his capability in the cage.
The Germans, returning to competitive hockey after nearly four months, having last played in the Olympic qualifiers in January, were profligate with penalty corners and their coordination left a lot to be desired.
They earned a dozen penalty corners but all went waste. Sreejesh too played his role to perfection, thwarting three attempts — two off penalty corners — in the first quarter.
India will take on Germany again on June 8. They will play Great Britain on June 2 and 9.
