Ipoh: India put up a spirited fight but lost to Australia 3-4 in their opening match of the 22nd Sultan Azlan Shah Cup at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh on Saturday.
Australia created a few chances early in the match but their attempts were thwarted by agile Indian keeper PR Sreejesh with fantastic saves. However Sreejesh was finally beaten in the 24th minute as he padded away a Deavin penalty corner attempt only for the lurking Matt Ghodes to hammer the rebound into the roof of the net to give Australia a well deserved lead.
Though India managaed to keep margin at 0-1 till the half-time, the Aussies started off well in the second half as a penalty corner in the 38th minute was finished off by Glenn Simpson. A minute later it was 3-0 for Australia as Matt Ghodes deflected in a hot at the far post and India were stunned.
Off their next attack India were awarded a penalty corner and Rupinderpal Singh made no mistake to reduce the deficit in the 40th minute to 3-1. Mandeep Singh could have reduce the deficit in the 50th minute but skied the ball infront of goal.
But India were not to be denied as Malak Singh scored the second in the very next minute, his shot sailing in under the pad of Aussie keeper George Bazely from an acute angle.
Australia did not take long to restore their two goal advantage but as Robert Hammond played a penalty corner push to Trent Mitton whose deft touch beat Sreejesh.
Rupinderpal scored in the 68th minute but it was too late for India to salvage anything from the match.
For India coach Michael Nobbs, the fact that he had 10 players who could feature in the Junior World Cup gave him hope that Indian hockey is on the right track.
"We lost the match in the first five minutes of the second half and this all boils down to inexperience. It was a commendable performance nonetheless and its a good learning curve for the youngsters," said Nobbs.
