The Indian junior men’s hockey team after finishing second in the round robin stage advanced to the final of the Sultan of Johor Cup hockey tournament where they will take on Australia. India played out a 5-5 draw with Great Britain in their last round-robin league match of the tournament here on Friday. This gave the team eight points from five matches and the team finished second behind Australia (13 points from five matches).
For India, Poovanna CB (7th), Amandeep (50th), Arijit Singh Hundal (53rd) and Sharda Nand Tiwary (56th and 58th) played, while for Great Britain Max Anderson (1st and 40th), Harrison Stone (42nd minute) and Jami Golden (54th and 56th) scored. Australia defeated South Africa 6-1 in their final round-robin league match on Friday.
Britain and Japan ended their campaign on seven points each while South Africa had six points. Hosts Melasia finished at the end of the six-team table with one point. If South Africa had defeated Australia, they would have reached the final. But the title contenders, the Australian team, were very strong against them. India had scored early in the match against Britain but they managed to level 1-1 till the first quarter.
There was no change in the score even after the intermission. Britain took the lead early but India made a good comeback in the last quarter. It rained heavily in the fourth and last quarter. A total of six goals were scored in this quarter, including India’s four goals within eight minutes.
