Eindhoven. India failed to capitalize on an early lead and went down 1-4 to hosts Netherlands in their FIH Hockey Pro League match. Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored the only goal for India in the 11th minute. India got five penalty corners and one penalty stroke in the match. In this match played on Wednesday night, Pepijn Reyenga (17th), Boris Burkhardt (40th) and Duko Teljenkamp (41st and 58th) scored for the Netherlands. The Indian team, which reached here after winning two consecutive matches in Britain, took the lead in the first quarter itself. India got a penalty corner in the 11th minute.
When the Indian team took the penalty corner, the Dutch defenders deliberately fouled it, giving India a penalty stroke. Harmanpreet made no mistake in converting it into a goal. With this, his total number of goals this season has reached 17. The Netherlands came back brilliantly to equalize with a goal from Pepijn Reyenga amid huge support from the home crowd. This put the Indian team on the backfoot while the Netherlands controlled the ball for most of the time. The Netherlands were awarded a penalty corner seconds before the end of the second quarter but a brilliant effort from Amit Rohidas saved India. It was only after this that the Netherlands maintained their dominance and played aggressively.
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He had a chance to score early in the third quarter but Indian goalkeeper Krishan Pathak made a brilliant save. India attacked from the right flank in the 35th minute but Gurjant Singh failed to find the target. Netherlands were awarded a penalty corner in the 40th minute which Burkhardt made no mistake in converting. Seconds later, Tellzenkamp scored on a field goal to make it 3–1. Shortly after this, Mandeep Singh got a green card due to which India had to play with 10 players. The Indian team looked desperate to make a comeback. He also earned two penalty corners in the fourth quarter but could not capitalize on them. The Netherlands also earned a penalty corner in the last minute which was converted by Tellzenkamp to ensure a big win for his team. India will play its next match against Argentina.
