Azlan Shah Tourney: India Vs Canada
May 10
A relatively new look Indian hockey team will take on Canada on Sunday in the Seventeenth Edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament held in Malaysia. The Indian hockey team are currently last in the Seven nation tournament and will look to get their act together when they take on third place Canada on Sunday. The Indian team had earlier paid for sloppy defending as Argentina scored an emphatic 5-1 win at Ipoh on Friday. India’s only goal was scored by Sandeep Singh in the 25th minute of the first half. Argentina led 2-1 at half-time. India had earlier lost 4-3 against New Zealand in their opening game on Thursday. With nine new players in this squad, the Indian team had just no coordination. The defending was pathetic and Argentina scored most of their goals from the right.
Argentina rode the brilliance of Facundo Callioni, who struck three goals while Pedro Ibarra and Tomas Incento chipped in with a goal each in a horribly one-sided contest.India had experience on the sidelines. Former Olympian and one of the world’s best known defenders Pargat Singh tried his best to pass on his tips, but there were many holes in India’s defence. Pargat is in Malaysia as India’s manager.Chief coach Ajay Bansal was simply clueless as Argentina almost went away with a tennis scoreline-like victory margin. Meanwhile the Canadians will be high on confidence after a 1-0 victory over Belgium.
The match airs live on ESPN on Sunday the 11th at 13.30 IST.
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