Hockey World Cup 2023: Amit Rohidas, Hardik Singh score to help India win 2-0 against Spain
The hot favorite Indian team has had an explosive start to their world Cup campaign here in Orissa. They defeated the mighty Spaniards 2-0 in the opening encounter. And have announced the world their intentions in this tournament.
Indian started off their campaign on 13th of January against Spain. It was supposed to be a very interesting and closely contested game. However, in the end it was the Indian team that turned out to be too much for their Spanish counterpart.
Flying start by Indian team
The match started with a bang for India as they converted the first goal of the game in the 11th minute of 1st quarter itself. Following a dangerous play by a Spanish player, India was awarded a penalty Corner. And they made the most of it.
Having already missed a corner earlier, Amit Rohidas ensured that there was no mistake this time around. He put the ball in the back of the net with a fierce strike to give India a 1-0 lead in the first quarter.
The second quarter had a similar story. India was on the dominating front and very soon had a goal to show for it. This time it was Hardik Singh who scored a goal from open play to give his side a great 2-0 advantage.
Resilient Indian team wins the game
Spain had the worst possible start to the third quarter of the game. In the 32nd minute of the play, India was awarded a penalty stroke. They could have furthered their advantage against Spain. But the Spainsh goalie had other ideas.
Harmanpreet stepped up to take the shot but Adrian Rafi the goalie was up for the task. He made a tremendous goal line save, which was quite unbelievable for even the referee, who sent the decision for a referral. But it was ruled in Spain’s favor.
India maintained a powerful attack throughout the game. They won two more penalty corners in the 3rd quarter itself, yet, none of them were converted.
In the meantime they ensured a watertight defense at the back to ensure there was no backdoor entry for Spain. Hence clinching the first victory of the World Cup.
Amit Rohidas, who was awarded the player of the match, said: “Playing here felt really good, and this was a great win. Thank you to the crowd who turned up in such huge numbers and cheered us on so loudly.”
It is truly sublime to see such support for the Indian team at home. Hopefully they will continue their winning run in the cup and win the title.
