Speedy Tigers suffered their first loss
August 7, 2023,
INDIA (blue jersey) postponed the national squad's desire to book an early ticket to the ACT semi-finals after recording a 5-0 victory just now. - AHF / INDIAN HOCKEY
KUALA LUMPUR - The national hockey squad's desire to grab an early ticket to the semi-finals of the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) 2023 in Chennai, India was delayed for a while after being beaten 0-5 by the hosts just now.
The defeat indirectly melted the previous clean record of the Speedy Tigers who beat Pakistan 3-1 and China 5-1 in the previous two matches.
The squad coached by A. Arul Selvaraj wanted to record a third victory, but everything went wrong when India dominated the game from the beginning of the match.
Attack after attack finally allowed the opponent ranked fourth in the world to open the scoring through Karthi Selvam's field goal in the 15th minute.
The national squad suffered its first defeat in the ACT campaign when it lost 0-5 to India just now. – AHF / INDIAN HOCKEY
The national team's struggle looked more difficult after allowing India to add two more goals within 10 minutes, this time through penalty corners by Hardik Singh and Harmanpreet Singh in the 32nd and 42nd minutes.
The national team, ranked 10th in the world, had several chances to close the gap including a penalty corner goal from Muhammad Najmi Farizal Jazlan which was disallowed by the match referee.
Everything was ruined when India led by Craig Fulton scored two more goals within a minute through Gurjant Singh and Jugraj Singh in the 53rd and 54th minutes to complete a stylish 5-0 victory.
Despite the loss, the Speedy Tigers still have a chance to advance to the semi-finals if they win against Japan this afternoon, although they still have one more match against South Korea on Wednesday.
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