Hockey News: India defeat New Zealand 7-4 in a high-scoring encounter

Within the regulation time, Harmanpreet Singh in the sixth and 18th minutes, Selvam Karthi in the 16th and 37th minute, Pal Raj Kumar in the 30th minute, Sukhjeet Singh in the 49th minute, and Jugraj Singh in the 52nd minute, scored for India.

In contrast, Simon Child in the first minute, Sam Lane in the eighth minute, Jack Smith in the 13th minute, and Nic Woods in the 53rd minute were the goalscorers for New Zealand. 

Both squads began the match aggressively, with the attackers dominating the defense to make back-to-back circle penetrations. Simon Child opened the scoring for New Zealand in the very first minute of the match. 

Just five minutes later, Harmanpreet Singh slotted the ball into the net past the New Zealand goalkeeper George Enersen to equalize the score for India. The following 13 minutes of the game saw New Zealand score two-goal, followed by another two goals from the Indian side. 

The Indian defenders finally discovered their rhythm and managed to slow down the attacking New Zealand forward. However, the Indian forwards maintained a firm grip on the ball and kept on launching successive attacks.

At 6-3, Jugraj Singh made an excellent show of his attacking abilities and slotted the ball into the net to further increase the lead to 7-3.

New Zealand captain Nic Woods managed to convert a penalty corner in the match's dying moments but failed to make much of a difference as the game ended with a 7-4 victory for India.

In a post-match interview, Hardik Singh said, "Coming back from a two-goal deficit to win 7-4 is something that doesn't happen every time. We were all pumped up during half-time as the coaches and seniors devised some strategies and asked to keep more ball possession. We followed what the coaches said and the result is in front of you all."

India will face Spain in the second leg of their next FIH Hockey Pro League clash at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on November 6.