The Indian men’s hockey team secured a 1-1 draw with Argentina in their second Pool B match at the Paris 2024 Olympics at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir on Monday.
Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh (59’) scored from a late penalty corner to tie the game after Lucas Martinez (22’) gave Rio 2016 champions Argentina the lead in the second quarter.
With a win and a draw from two matches, India are third in Pool B with four points. Belgium and Australia lead the table and have six points each. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics bronze medallists had earlier secured a late 3-2 win over New Zealand in their Paris 2024 campaign opener.
India, fifth in the world hockey rankings, began the match on a positive note. They were awarded the first penalty corner of the match in the 10th minute but Sanjay’s shot got saved by Argentina’s goalkeeper Tomas Santiago.
The side had another penalty corner a minute later and this time, Abhishek struck the post. Two minutes later, India’s veteran goalie PR Sreejesh was called into action to make a save off Agustin Mazzilli and the first quarter ended with seventh-ranked Argentina squandering a penalty corner.
India had three consecutive penalty corners four minutes into the second quarter but the Argentine keeper was on hand to save the efforts from Harmanpreet. The Argentina hockey team took the lead of the contest through Lucas Martinez at the 22nd-minute mark.
They dominated much of the third quarter and created several chances but the Indian defence stood their ground. India breathed a sigh of relief after thwarting a penalty stroke from Maico Casella in the 37th minute.
Tomas Domene also came close from a couple of penalty corners but failed to make the chances count.
Towards the closing stages of the quarter, India missed another penalty corner while Sukhjeet Singh had his shot saved by Santiago.
India went on the offensive in the fourth quarter and Abhishek had a strong chance just two minutes before the end of the game. Hardik Singh and Harmanpreet had their shots saved by the Argentine goalie on consecutive penalty corners.
However, India finally levelled the tie at 1-1 with Harmanpreet converting from a penalty corner just a minute before the final hooter.
India will face Ireland in their third Paris 2024 Olympics hockey Pool B match on Tuesday.
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