Varun’s brace helps junior men beat Germany 3-1

Valencia, October 25 

Drag-flicker Varun Kumar scored a brace to guide India to a 3-1 win over Germany in their opening game of the four-nation invitational hockey tournament here.

Varun struck in the 17th and 25th minutes before Ajay Yadav rounded off the tally for India in the 68th minute.Both India and Germany began the proceedings on an intense note.

It was India who wrested the initiative with their first penalty corner of the game, which Varun converted. India kept up the pressure but Germany drew level in the 22nd minute through a strike from Kai Aichinger.

But the Indians restored their lead three minutes later when Varun converted another penalty corner. India put up a stubborn defence in the second half and did not allow the Germans too many forays into their defensive third.

The one clear chance that came Germany’s way in the second half was from a penalty corner in the final minutes but it was palmed away by Indian goalkeeper Vikas Dahiya.

Trailing by a goal, the Germans went all out and in the process left gaps in their defence and India utilised the opportunity from a counter-attack when Ajay sounded the board two minutes from the final hooter. They will play Belgium tomorrow. 

Junior women lose

However, it was a disappointing start for India’s junior women’s hockey team as it lost 3-0 to England in its opening match of the five-nation invitational tournament. — PTI

First 5-a-side senior Nationals from today

Pune: The 1st Hockey India five-a-side senior National Championship (men and women) will be held in Balewadi from tomorrow. This is seen as an innovative format for the development and growth of the sport. The objective is to allow flexibility so that it can be played on any surface and different-sized pitches. The size of the field is 38.5m x 22.5m. The game is split into three periods of 10 minutes, with a three minute break between the periods. Every team is allowed a total of 9 players, which includes one goalkeeper. Players cannot hit the ball, and instead have to push, scoop or flick it . The championship will have eight teams — Association of Indian Universities, Haryana, Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.