<p> Valencia (Spain): The Indian men’s hockey team began their 5-Nation Tournament on a disappointing note, losing 0-1 to lower ranked Spain here on Friday.</p>.<p> Alvaro Iglesias scored the only goal of the match in the 29th minute.</p>.<p> The Indian team, which qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics after winning gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games, is ranked third in the world while Spain is eighth.</p>.Indian women’s hockey team suffers 2-3 defeat to Spain in opening match of 5-Nation tournament.<p> Before Friday, India and Spain had played against each other twice this year and the result had been even. India beat Spain in a World Cup group match in January while the European side was victorious in a tournament at home in July. </p><p>The first quarter of the match saw both the teams earn a penalty corner each but neither managed to find the back of the net.</p>.<p> Spain took the initiative in the second quarter, forcing a penalty corner save from Indian custodian Krishan Pathak. The pressure was telling as India received a green card and Spain immediately pounced on the opportunity.</p>.<p> Alvaro Iglesias breached India’s defence and scored the goal that gave Spain the lead.</p>.<p> The third quarter witnessed both teams in an intense battle to score the next goal but they were unable to break their opponents’ tight defence.</p>.<p> India turned up the heat in the last quarter in the search of an equaliser, earning two penalty corners. However, they were unable to convert both the set-piece chances and the match ended in Spain’s favour.</p>.<p> The Indian team will battle against reigning Olympic champions Belgium on Saturday.</p>.<p> The five teams will play each other once and the side finishing on top of the points table after all the matches will be the winner of the tournament.</p>
<p> Valencia (Spain): The Indian men’s hockey team began their 5-Nation Tournament on a disappointing note, losing 0-1 to lower ranked Spain here on Friday.</p>.<p> Alvaro Iglesias scored the only goal of the match in the 29th minute.</p>.<p> The Indian team, which qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics after winning gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games, is ranked third in the world while Spain is eighth.</p>.Indian women’s hockey team suffers 2-3 defeat to Spain in opening match of 5-Nation tournament.<p> Before Friday, India and Spain had played against each other twice this year and the result had been even. India beat Spain in a World Cup group match in January while the European side was victorious in a tournament at home in July. </p><p>The first quarter of the match saw both the teams earn a penalty corner each but neither managed to find the back of the net.</p>.<p> Spain took the initiative in the second quarter, forcing a penalty corner save from Indian custodian Krishan Pathak. The pressure was telling as India received a green card and Spain immediately pounced on the opportunity.</p>.<p> Alvaro Iglesias breached India’s defence and scored the goal that gave Spain the lead.</p>.<p> The third quarter witnessed both teams in an intense battle to score the next goal but they were unable to break their opponents’ tight defence.</p>.<p> India turned up the heat in the last quarter in the search of an equaliser, earning two penalty corners. However, they were unable to convert both the set-piece chances and the match ended in Spain’s favour.</p>.<p> The Indian team will battle against reigning Olympic champions Belgium on Saturday.</p>.<p> The five teams will play each other once and the side finishing on top of the points table after all the matches will be the winner of the tournament.</p>