Late strike hands India 3-2 win

Paris, July 27

Skipper Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty stroke in the dying moments to lead India to a tight 3-2 win against New Zealand in their Paris Olympics opener.

Sam Lane (8th minute) and Simon Child (53rd) were the goal scorers for New Zealand, while Mandeep Singh (24th), Vivek Sagar Prasad (34th) and Harmanpreet (59th) struck for India.

Despite the win, India coach Craig Fulton would be a little worried about the team’s penalty corner conversion rate. The team earned five penalty corners but converted just one, while New Zealand had nine set pieces and utilised two of them.

Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh said the game was a wake-up call. “The first match in the Olympics is never easy. New Zealand is not an easy team. We made some mistakes, but there were a few good things as well. It’s a good wake up call,” Sreejesh said.