<p>India paid the price of poor defending as they conceded a goal four minutes from time to play out a 3-3 draw in a thrilling match in their last pool fixture of the FIH World League Round 3 match here today.<br /><br /></p>.<p>India, who dominated the match throughout, fought back in a remarkable fashion from a goal down in the first half and took the lead twice only to be denied a win in their last Pool B match by poor defending.<br /><br />India scored through Mandeep Singh (46th), V R Raghunath (47th) and Kothajit Singh (53rd) while Marcus Child (6th), Stephen Jenness (51st) and Blair Hilton (66th) found the target for New Zealand who are the higher-ranked side at number sixth.<br /><br />It was, however, the 11th ranked Indians who had far more possession, more penetration at the opposition striking circle and more shots at target in the fast-paced and entertaining match though they were let down by poor defence in the end.<br /><br />The Indian defence manned by Raghunath, Rupinderpal Singh and Sandeep Singh were found wanting in New Zealand counter attacks as the Balck Sticks scored twice in such fashion.<br /><br />With today's draw, their second in the tournament after their 4-4 result against Ireland in the campaign opener, India ended their pool engagements with two points from three matches.<br /><br />The Sardar Singh-led side now face the prospect of playing Pool A winners Belgium or runners-up Australia in the knock-out phase which begins on Wednesday.<br /><br />All the eight teams -- four each in the two pools -- will still play in the quarterfinal phase as the preliminary matches are only meant to decide who plays whom in the knock-out stage. The last-place team of one pool plays the topper of the other pool and so on.</p>
<p>India paid the price of poor defending as they conceded a goal four minutes from time to play out a 3-3 draw in a thrilling match in their last pool fixture of the FIH World League Round 3 match here today.<br /><br /></p>.<p>India, who dominated the match throughout, fought back in a remarkable fashion from a goal down in the first half and took the lead twice only to be denied a win in their last Pool B match by poor defending.<br /><br />India scored through Mandeep Singh (46th), V R Raghunath (47th) and Kothajit Singh (53rd) while Marcus Child (6th), Stephen Jenness (51st) and Blair Hilton (66th) found the target for New Zealand who are the higher-ranked side at number sixth.<br /><br />It was, however, the 11th ranked Indians who had far more possession, more penetration at the opposition striking circle and more shots at target in the fast-paced and entertaining match though they were let down by poor defence in the end.<br /><br />The Indian defence manned by Raghunath, Rupinderpal Singh and Sandeep Singh were found wanting in New Zealand counter attacks as the Balck Sticks scored twice in such fashion.<br /><br />With today's draw, their second in the tournament after their 4-4 result against Ireland in the campaign opener, India ended their pool engagements with two points from three matches.<br /><br />The Sardar Singh-led side now face the prospect of playing Pool A winners Belgium or runners-up Australia in the knock-out phase which begins on Wednesday.<br /><br />All the eight teams -- four each in the two pools -- will still play in the quarterfinal phase as the preliminary matches are only meant to decide who plays whom in the knock-out stage. The last-place team of one pool plays the topper of the other pool and so on.</p>