New Delhi:India beat World Champions Germany 3-2 to begin their hockey Pro League campaign. Sukhjit Singh scored a pair of goals in Rourkela on Friday.Earlier this year, the Indian team had a disappointing result in the World Cup hockey on home soil. Harmanpreet Singh defeated South Africa 5-2 at this stadium in Rourkela to finish in ninth place. Germany beat Belgium in a tiebreaker in the final to become the best in the world.
Before Friday’s duel, experts put world champion Germany ahead. But on this day, India dominated from the beginning of the match. The first quarter ended goalless. In the last minute of the second quarter (30th minute), captain Harmanpreet gave India the lead by scoring from a penalty corner. At the beginning of the third quarter (31 minutes), Sukhjit made it 2-0. He scored again in the 42nd minute. Kaufman Philip reduced the gap within a couple of minutes. Struff Mitchell scored 2-3 but could not save Germany’s defeat.
