The Indian men’s Hockey team began their Australian Tour 2019 with a victorious note against WA Thundersticks 2-0 at the Perth Hockey Stadium.
Birendra Lakra (23’) and Harmanpreet Singh (50’) scored for the visitors in the opening match of the tour where they also play the Australian Men’s Hockey team on May 15 and May 17.
The first quarter of the game witnessed fluent play by both the teams but it was India’s debutant Jaskaran Singh who shot at the 5th minute which was missed. The home team also meanwhile tried their best to penetrate into the Indian defense.
Akashdeep Singh also had a shot towards the end of the first quarter but WA Thundersticks’ Goalkeeper Ben Rennie made a fine save to deny India a goal.
In the second quarter, India started dominating proceedings and in the 23rd minute Defender, Birendra Lakra scored a field goal through a delightful finish to give his team a 1-0 lead.
The last quarter also began well for the Indian team as they pushed for a second goal which finally saw fruit in the 50th minute through a Penalty Corner and made sure that they saw out a 2-0 win to start their tour on a high.
