Hockey World Cup: Team India beat Wales, will now compete with New Zealand for the quarter-finals
After missing out on a draw against England, now the Indian team has once again returned to the winning track in the Hockey World Cup 2023. Team India defeated Wales 4-2 in the last match of Group-D held at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Thursday (January 19). Akashdeep Singh played an important role in the victory of the Indian team, who scored two goals for his team. Apart from this, Shamsher Singh and Captain Harmpreet Singh scored one goal each.
Jacob Draper and Furlong Gareth scored for Wales. Despite this victory, the Indian team could not directly reach the quarter-finals. Now the Indian team will face New Zealand in the crossover match on January 22 at the Kalinga Stadium itself. The winning team of that match will get a chance to play in the quarter finals. New Zealand stood at number three in the Group-C points table.
Jeet gaya bhai jeet gaya, India jeet gaya 🤩
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) January 19, 2023
🇮🇳 IND 4-2 WAL 🏴#INDvsWAL #HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #HWC2023 #HockeyWorldCup2023 #StarsBecomeLegends @CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha @IndiaSports @Media_SAI @HockeyWales pic.twitter.com/r6xv70ZjhW
India finished second in its Group-D. India had 7 points from three matches with two wins and one draw. From this group, England entered the direct quarter-finals by defeating India on the basis of better goal average. England also had 7 points from two wins and one draw. Now the Indian team will have a chance to reach the quarterfinals by winning the cross over. India needed to beat Wales 8-0 to reach the quarter-finals directly, which could not happen.
Shamsher Singh gave India the lead
In the first quarter, there was a tough fight between the two teams and no goal could be scored. Then in the second quarter, India showed a strong game. In the 17th minute, India got a penalty corner on which no goal was scored. After this, after four minutes i.e. in the 21st minute of the game, the Indian team managed to score on another penalty corner. Shamsher Singh scored this goal for India. After this there was no goal in the second quarter and the Indian team was leading 1-0.
Wells made a comeback in the third quarter
After halftime, the third quarter was fluctuating. In the 32nd minute of the first game, Akashdeep Singh scored a field goal to put India ahead 2-0. But after this the Indian team lost its momentum and conceded goals in the 42nd and 44th minutes of the game. Both these goals for Wales were scored on the penalty corner. After 45 minutes the score was tied at 2-2.
Team India’s fourth quarter
After conceding two goals, the Indian team made a great comeback in the fourth quarter. As soon as the fourth quarter started, Akashdeep Singh scored a field goal to give India a 3-2 lead again. Finally, in the 59th minute of the game, Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored a penalty corner goal to give India a decisive lead of 4-2.
