Guwahati: Indian men’s hockey team got the better of Sri Lanka 3-0 to give the home crowd yet another opportunity to cheer for the team, as India booked a place in the finals of 12th South Asian Games against Pakistan, here on Wednesday. India produced a better performance in a must-win match after a hard fought 2-1 defeat against Pakistan in the previous group match.
The first half of the match started on an exciting note for India as they were playing a must win game. Gagandeep Singh drew first blood for India in the match with a field goal in the 11th minute. India looked in attacking mode, pressed hard for the second goal and made circle penetrations which resulted in a penalty corner one minute just before the half-time. Gaganpreet Singh made best use of the opportunity and put the ball passed the Sri Lankan goalkeeper to give a 2-0 lead to India. The first half ended with the score at 2-0.
The second half was a similar story. India kept on building the pressure and pushed back the Sri Lankan defence. The Sri Lankan defense held strong for most of the second half. India in their urge to score another goal penetrated the Sri Lankan circle on numerous occasions and finally a penalty corner was converted in the 64th minute by Gaganpreet Singh to give him his second goal in the match. The final few minutes saw numerous attacks form the Indian team not allowing the Sri Lankans even to cross the half – line but none of them were converted into a goal. India won the match 3-0 to book a match with Pakistan for the gold medal.
The gold medal match between India and Pakistan will be played on 12th February, 2016 at Moullana MD. Tayabullah Hockey Stadium, Bhetapara in Guwahati, Assam.
