Vivek Sagar Prasad created history by becoming the second youngest player to debut for India. Sandeep Singh tops the list when he played for India at an age of 17 years 10 months and 11 days. Vivek makes it to the number 2 position with an age of 17 years 10 months and 22 days old. Vivek celebrated in a fine fashion by scoring two goals on debut alongside other debutant, Dilpreet Singh who also scored two goals in the match.
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Indian cricket team who are also playing their group stage match in Tauranga were spotted chearing for the hockey team. The return of India’s wall termed goalkeeper, PR Sreejesh gave immense pleasure and joy to the Indian fans as well.
India scored two goals in first quarter
India scored two goals in the very first quarter. Indian ace drag flicker, RupinderPal Singh converted a PC strike in 7′ minute of the game. Indian team didn’t wasted any more time and scored at 12′ minute of the game. This was a historic goal which came from the stick of Vivek Prasad who put India ahead by 2-0.
Some Fightback by Japan
Indian team were on attack from the starting of the second quarter but Japan had some other ideas. The East Asian Nation denied any more goals and played to the compact tight defense. Vivek Prasad again was in business and scored in the 28′ minute of the game, giving India a 3-0 lead. This was his second goal of the match at his debut outing in the senior outfit.
Dilpreet Singh amongst the scorers
India’s other debutant Dilpreet Singh got into the action when he scored in the 35′ minute of the match. A deflecting ball from Japanese goalkeeper was fired at the back of the net with great power to make it 4-0 for India. In the 38′ minute, Sreejesh made way for Krishan Pathak, the other goalkeeper of the team, who was the 4th debutant for India in the game. Later, Harmanpreet also opened his account by a classical PC conversion in the 41′ minute of the match to put India at a commanding position of 5-0 over Japan.
Indian team was eyeing more goals and Dilpreet Singh didn’t take much time to do that. Mandeep played the ball through to Dilpreet and the youngster didn’t do any mistake to score in 45′ minute and give India a 6-0 lead at the end of the quarter.
Goal-less quarter four
The only positive that Japan can take is they restricted the fiery Indian forwards to score another goal in 4th quarter. They tried to get back a consolation goal but Krishan Pathak was too alert at the goal. He kept a clean sheet alongside Sreejesh for India.
India will next face Belgium in their second match on 18th January from 10.05 IST.
FT! A great start to 2018 and the Four Nations Invitational Tournament in NZ, as Team India’s dominant display earns them a 6-0 victory against Japan on 17th January 2018.
#IndiaKaGame #INDvJPN #NZ4Nations pic.twitter.com/s5QTB43IJj— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) January 17, 2018
