Team India on Thursday thrashed Japan 8-0 to end their FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup campaign in style. The Men in Blue put on a scintillating performance at the Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela. India’s captain Harmanpreet Singh and player of the match Abhishek scored two goals each.
Both the teams could not convert into goals till the interval. However, Mandeep Singh scored the first goal for India in the 32nd minute. After this Team India scored three more goals in the third quarter. He retained the second to add four more goals in the fourth and final quarter of the game. Former captain Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad and Sukhjit Singh also contributed to India’s score.
India has been waiting for the World Cup trophy for 47 years and their wait continues with the defeat. India last won the Hockey World Cup trophy in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After this, the Indian team never got a chance to lift any trophy in this global event. Team India won the World Cup last time by defeating arch-rivals Pakistan.
In the crossover match, New Zealand defeated India 4–5 in the penalty shootout after the two teams were tied at 3–3. A below-par performance from India, ranked sixth in the world, gave New Zealand a chance to fight back in the match after taking a 2-0 lead in the first half. India scored through Lalit Upadhyay (17th minute), Sukhjit Singh (24th) and Varun Kumar (40th). New Zealand responded through Sam Lane (28th) and two penalty corners from Ken Russell (43rd) and Sean Findlay (49th).
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