Young forward Mohammed Raheel had a remarkable outing in Lausanne on the weekend where the Indian Men’s Hockey Team clinched the inaugural FIH Hockey5s Title. The 25-year-old, who scored 10 goals in five matches, was the tournament’s top goal scorer and was awarded the Best Player of the Tournament.

“Firstly, it’s a great feeling to be playing for the Indian team. I am really happy that I contributed to the team’s cause. It was a wonderful experience and I really loved playing this format of the game,” expressed Raheel, who was the cynosure of India’s attack in the tournament.

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The Indian team led by Gurinder Singh, who finished the round-robin stage on top with three wins and one draw in four matches, remained unbeaten in the tournament. They started their campaign with a 4-3 win and played out a 2-2 draw against Pakistan on the opening day.

Then on Sunday, they registered massive 7-3 and 6-2 wins against Malaysia and Poland respectively before scripting a stunning comeback against the latter in the Final match.

Raheel, who got on the scoresheet in all five matches, netted twice in India’s thrilling 6-4 win against Poland in the Final.

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Reflecting on the campaign, the young forward said, “It was a new experience, the matches were really fast-paced, but we improved match-by-match and got to score a lot of goals. We started using the perimeter boards more, and with that our finishing got improved. We played really well as a team. It’s a great feeling to win the inaugural edition of the Hockey5s.”

Apart from emphasising on the entertaining factor involved in this short 5-a side format, Raheel also credited the FIH for making this event a memorable experience for all the participating teams.

“Credit to the FIH for introducing the Hockey5s. It was a beautiful set-up in Laussane, we really enjoyed it. We were playing in front of a packed ground after so long, so it made this experience all the more memorable,” he concluded.