India beat Spain 4-2 in 3rd Match, win Hockey Series 2

The Indian men’s hockey team will be aiming to clinch the three-match series against Spain when they will take on the hosts in the third and decisive match at Terrassa on Thursday.

The Indians played an aggressive game, troubling the Spanish defence with fast counter-attacks at regular intervals.

The second quarter started with both the sides looking for opportunities to open their account.

The tourists had earlier suffered a 1-4 defeat against Spain in their opening game of the second tier of European tour. Chinglensana Singh penetrated the Spanish circle twice, but failed to convert the attempts in goals.

But the Sardar Singh-led side bounced back strongly in the second match against Spain to level the series 1-1. After an intense tussle, the first quarter ended goalless. In the third quarter, both the teams entered the field with different strategies and game-plans to tackle each other. Against the run of play, the Indian defenders fouled on the Spanish striker which resulted in penalty corner in favour of Spain. But the danger was averted as Indian keeper Sreejesh continued to display his impressive form.

Ramandeep scored field goals while drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh (24th minute) and striker Akashdeep Singh (45th) also sounded the boards for India. In the fourth quarter, the Spain put an extra player in their attacking line-up to score goals and equalise the score-card.

The Indians will need to thank their goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who was superb under the bar.

For Spain, Ricardo Santana (25th min) and Xavier Lleonart (49th min) were the scorers.