London: India fought back from a goal deficit to hand archrivals Pakistan a narrow 4-3 defeat in a thrilling, well-fought encounter, their first match of the London-leg in the FIH Pro League 2025-26 at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre on Tuesday.
Nadeem Ahmad gave Pakistan an early lead by scoring in the 8th minute of the match, but Harmanpreet Singh’s Indian team came back strongly in the second quarter, scoring twice before adding a goal each in the third and fourth quarters to take a commanding lead.
However, Craig Fulton’s side made a few errors in the last 10 minutes of the match and allowed Pakistan to score twice to narrow the victory margin and make it a tense affair.
Abhishek (21st), Nilakanta Sharma (24th), Sukhjeet Singh (34th), and Rajinder Singh (52nd) scored for India while Abu Mahmood (53rd) and Moin Shakeel (60th) reduced the margin after Nadeem Ahmad had given Pakistan the lead against the run of play in the first quarter. All three of Pakistan’s goals came from penalty corners.
This is India’s third outright win in 13 matches in the Pro League as they moved to 13 points. Harmanpreet Singh’s side has won one match in a shoot-out while drawing two matches, and have lost seven games. Pakistan have lost all 13 of their matches so far.
With this win, India also continued their recent dominance over the neighbours. They have not lost to Pakistan at the senior and junior levels since 2016. Pakistan’s Junior team lost 5-3 to India in the Under-18 Asia Cup in Japan recently.
The Indians held the upper hand on all parameters of the game. The Men in Blue made 30 circle penetrations for just nine by their opponents, earned 11 PCs to 8 by Pakistan. They, however, could convert only two PCs while the Men in Green scored three goals.
With this win, India continued their good performance on the ongoing tour of Europe for the last two rounds of FIH Pro League action. In the previous leg in Rotterdam, they had defeated the reigning World Champion Germany and the hosts Netherlands in key matches.
The win moves India to seventh spot in the nine-team points table, overtaking Spain (11 points from 12 games). Pakistan, with zero points, is at the bottom.
The Men in Blue will meet Pakistan once again in this round on June 26 after taking on hosts England in their next match on Wednesday. They will round off their campaign in the FIH Pro league against England on June 29 at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London.
(IANS)
