Indian players celebrate after defeating Argentina in the bronze medal playoff match on Wednesday. Credit: PTI
Chennai: Argentina were up and about early and had raced ahead in the bronze medal contest of the FIH Junior Men's Hockey World Cup here on Wednesday.
India, on the other hand, decided to wake up from their slumber only 49th minutes later. Jumping into action, the Rohit Yadav-led world No. 2 side played catch-up before whizzing past the South Americans to score a 4-2 victory for a third-place podium finish.
On yet another cool and breezy evening in the coastal city, a full house greeted the teams before a penalty stroke conversion by Nicolas Rodriguez in the third minute and a field goal by Santiago Fernandez in the 44th minute muted a stunned crowd.
As a feeling of deja vu began to set in, PR Sreejesh's boys appeared to have re-grouped in the second half to avoid themselves from enduring a second consecutive humbling.
If Ankit Pal's deflection off a flick during a penalty corner in the 49th minute restored some life back into the Indian camp, Manmeet Singh's deflection off another drag-flick in the 52nd, Shardanand Tiwari's penalty stroke conversion (57th) and Anmol Ekka's drag-flick finding the net in the 58th minute saw the hosts end their topsy-turvy campaign with a medal around their necks.
Of the Indian colts, defender Ekka's spring in his legs and energy at crunch moments proved to be the inspiration his team-mates fed on to forge a comeback. And comeback they did and how!
Though the third-ranked team in the world paced away initially, Argentina were as sloppy and mistake-ridden as India. Sensing the lack of intent and reading the Tomas Ruiz-led side's hesitation despite enjoying a comfortable 2-0 lead, the Indian's began attacking and penetrating into the defence.
With the wheels beginning to move faster in the third quarter, it was the fourth quarter when India pressed hard on the accelerator to secure a much-needed win.
"Remember two Olympic Games how I came back? I'm going back with a medal (after a semifinal loss), so I'm happy," said coach Sreejesh, flashing a broad smile of contentment.
"The team were down 0-1, 0-2. But they started to believe in themselves. They waited. I mean, 2-0, it's almost done. But they trusted themselves. They came up and created opportunities. They converted it. We go back with a medal. Great!."
Result: Bronze-medal match: India: 4 (Ankit Pal 49th, Manmeet Singh 52nd, Shardanand Tiwari 57th, Anmol Ekka 58th) bt Argentina: 2 (Nicolas Rodriguez 3rd, Santiago Fernandez 44th).