India ended their Hockey World Cup 2023 campaign on a high as they beat South Africa 5-2 on Saturday to finish ninth in the competition.
Captain Harmanpreet, Akashdeep and Shamsher Singh were on the scoresheet as India finished tied with Argentina in the World Cup. The hosts had defeated Japan 8-0 on 26th January. India started the game on the front foot and made a few early inroads into the South African circle. Nicholas Spooner collected a green card early on and it proved to be costly as Abhishek put India in the lead in the fourth minute.
India had made four circle penetrations into the South African circle by the 10th minute and doubled their lead in the 11th minute from a penalty corner. Harmanpreet made no mistake in converting his shot as India seemed to be in cruise control at that moment.
The second quarter didn’t see any goals as South Africa had improved their attacking game. India held on and went into the break with the advantage.
Both teams tried to get the next goal in the match during the third quarter but to no avail. Finally, India made it 3-0 in the 45th minute as Shamsher converted from an aerial pass he had received from Abhishek.
