Harjeet guides India to victory

Hosts edge South Africa 2-1, to face Spain in quarterfinals

The way they played against England, the Indians were expected to run riot against South Africa in their final Pool ‘D’ game.

But on Monday, it took Harjeet Singh’s brilliance as he single-handedly helped his side to a nervy 2-1 win over their unfancied opponents.

An all-win record in the Pool stage means the Indians topped Pool ‘D’ with nine points and will face Spain, who finished second in Pool ‘C’ behind champions Germany, in the quarterfinals to be played on Thursday.

Monday, however, was all about Harjeet who entertained a capacity crowd at the Major Dhyan Chand stadium with his brilliance. He scored the opener with a beautiful strike in the 11th minute and later turned up a with a quality assist for Mandeep Singh in the 55th minute, as Kyle Lion-Cachet’s goal in the 28th minute was not enough for the South Africans.

The opening 15 minutes were no different from what one saw against England. The Indians took the game to the opposition, dribbling past them with ease and out-running them without much trouble.

Parvinder Singh and Simranjeet Singh had chances but with their backs to the goal, they flicked the ball into the side netting as chances went abegging for the hosts.

But the wait for the opening goal didn’t last long, as the Indian skipper stepped up his game to slot in the opener with a controlled strike. Simranjeet found Manpreet Jr inside the striking circle and the 21-year-old went down the baseline and sent in a well-weighted cross for the unmarked Harjeet, who slapped the ball into the goal.

With their noses ahead, it looked like the Indians would go for the kill. But the South Africans ensured the hosts didn’t have their way as they weathered incessant waves of attacks.

The Alex Steward-led side stayed deep, defended in numbers and relied heavily on counter attacks. And it was one such move that eventually helped them draw level.

Manpreet Jr was at fault, conceding an unnecessary short corner. Lion-Cachet  slotted the ball into the top corner to draw his side level before half-time. With 19 circle penetrations compared to the nine by their opponents, it was no surprise that India walked out dejected at the break.

Returning with a similar intent, it was once again the Indians who controlled the proceedings for long. But with the South Africans resorting to a man-to-man marking system, it demanded some brilliance from the home side if they were to penetrate the resolute defence.
Once again, it was their skipper who showed his quality to set up Mandeep for the winner.

Running down the right, Harjeet beat his marker on the turn and found his Punjab mate with a perfect pass. Mandeep didn’t disappoint, as he found the roof of the goal with a powerful reverse hit to give India the lead.

The result might have given them some relief, but going forward the Indians will have to take a careful look at the statistics, which read 59% possession and 33 circle entries, but just six shots on target.

Results: Pool A: Australia: 4 (Blake Govers 45th, Joshua Simmonds 4th, Jack Welch 46th, Lachlan Sharp 34th) bt Austria: 2 (Franz Lindengrun 67th, Phillip Schippan 8th); Argentina: 5 (Thomas Habif 14th, Martin Ferreiro 2nd, Nicolas Keenan 29th, 50th, Tomas Domene 12th) bt Korea: 1 (Joohan Park 41st).

Pool B: Netherlands: 7 (Thijs van Dam 7th, Jip Janssen 9th, 54th, Sebastian van der Graaf 45th, Noud Schoenaker 58th, Thierry Brinkman 37th, Bram van Groesen 25th) bt Egypt: 0; Belgium: 3 (Thomas Verheijen 55th, Quentin van Lierde 33rd, Gregory Stockbroekk 10th) bt Malaysia: 0.

Pool D: India: 2 (Harjeet Singh 11th, Mandeep Singh 55th) bt South Africa: 1 (Kyle Lion-Cachet 28th)

Today’s action: England vs Canada (10:00 am), Australia vs Korea (12:00 pm).
There will be no live telecast tomorrow.