India defeated Poland 4-2 in the quarter-final of the Men’s Hockey 5s competition at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires on Friday to seal their progress to the final four.
For India the goalscorers were Shivam Anand (2), Maninder Singh and Sanjay.
India opened up a 3-0 lead in the first half and then kept Poland at bay in the second despite a brief fightback.
Anand scored within the opening minute to put India in the lead while Singh maked it 2-0 in the third minute.
Down by two goals, Poland went on the offensive and forced Indian goalkeeper Prashant Chauhan to make four brilliant saves in the first period.
It was Anand’s turn again in the eighth minute to give India a handy advantage heading into the break.
Poland started the second half well, with Eryk Bembenek reducing the deficit in the 16th minute but Sanjay’s 17th minute strike restored India’s cushion. Michal Nowakowski added a consolation goal for Poland in the 18th minute.
The scoreline was a fair reflection of India’s dominance as they had 24 shots on goal compared to Poland’s 12. All four of India’s goals were field goals while they failed convert to their solitary penalty corner.
India will now face Argentina in the semi-final on Saturday. The other semifinal is between Malaysia and Zambia.
Mixed NOC medal for Manu
Young shooting sensation Manu Bhaker became the second Indian after judoka Tababi Devi to win two medals at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) after winning a silver medal in mixed NOC event.
In a unique format, Manu combined with Tajikistan’s Behzan Fayzullaev in the 10m air pistol mixed international and settled for a silver after losing the gold medal match 3-10 to Germany’s Vanessa Seeger and Bulgaria’s Kiril Kirov.
The India-Tajik pair had on Thursday come through qualification with a score of 751. They then beat an Egyptian-Thai pair 10-4 in the round of 16 at the Parque Polideportivo Roca shooting range in the Argentine capital.
They beat a pair from Lithuania and Moldova 10-8 in the quarterfinals and then overcame Andria Ibarra of Mexico and Dymtro Honta of Ukraine 10-3 in the semifinals.
The German-Bulgarian pair however started strong in the finals and was 3-0 ahead at one stage before winning 10-3 to emerge champions. According to the format, the gold medal winner of the individual event is paired with the athlete who finished 20th in the final.
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