India defeated Argentina today to win the bronze in the FIH Men's Junior Hockey World Cup. It was a valiant performance from the Indian colts as they came from behind to stun Argentina 4-2 and finish one better compared to the previous edition of the World Cup. For the unversed, India had finished fourth in the last two World Cup editions.
As for the match, it was all Argentina in the first two quarters as they dominated the proceedings with Nicolas Rodriguez and Santiago Fernandez in the third and 44th minute respectively. India even struggled to get a foothold and when the final quarter got underway, it seemed that the hosts would have to stay content with the fourth-place finish yet again.
A stunning comeback from the Indian team
However, the Indian team had other ideas as displayed some valiant hockey and converted panelaty corners at will to stun Argentina. Ankit Pal (49th minute), Manmeet Singh (52nd) and Anmol Ekka (58th) converted their respective penalty corners while Sharda Nand Tiwari found the net from the spot in the 57th minute as India registered a stunning win.
Earlier, it was credit to goalkeeper Princedeep Singh who made a brilliant double save in the 37th minute to keep his side alive in the crunch game. Argentina kept up the pressure till the end the third quarter, securing two short corners and a penalty corner only for them to fail to get past the Indian defence.
Eventually, all efforts bore fruit in the final quarter as the Indian team came out on the field with a renwed vigour to make a fight back for the ages and secured a bronze medal much to the delight of the fans.
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