India men go down to England 2-3; women lose to the Dutch 2-4

Representation pic

The Indian men's hockey team fought hard but England skipper Sam Ward's brace handed the hosts a 2-3 defeat in a FIH Pro League match here on Monday.

England struck the first blood through Jacob Payton (15th minute) before Ward (19th, 29th) struck twice to stun the hosts.

India's goals were scored by Abhishek (18th) and Sukhjeet Singh (39th). It was even stevens between the two sides in the first quarter with both the teams pressing each other for the early goal.

The Indians, however, were guilty of committing unforced errors in the defence, especially skipper Harmapreet Singh, who looked out of sorts.

From one such error, England scored through Payton from a field effort. Abhishek levelled three minutes later from a fine field effort.

But England stunned India again a minute later when Ward scored a brilliant field goal after a fine one-two with Payton.

Meanwhile, the Indian women's hockey team wasted chances galore to lose 2-4 to reigning Olympic champions Netherlands here.

The Indians had the better share of scoring chances - 13 penalty corners as against Netherlands' just three - but they couldn't capitalise on the opportunities.

Netherlands scored through Emma Reijnen (7th minute), Felice Albers (34th, 47th) and Fay van der Elst (40th) to come out winners. India's goals came from penalty corner conversions by Udita (18th, 42nd).

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