{"id":274422,"date":"2025-04-04T23:08:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T23:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/04\/fih-pro-league-hockey-vaishnavi-shines-as-indian-women-start-with-thrilling-win-harmanpreet-and-co-lose-vs-spain\/"},"modified":"2025-04-04T23:08:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T23:08:09","slug":"fih-pro-league-hockey-vaishnavi-shines-as-indian-women-start-with-thrilling-win-harmanpreet-and-co-lose-vs-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/04\/fih-pro-league-hockey-vaishnavi-shines-as-indian-women-start-with-thrilling-win-harmanpreet-and-co-lose-vs-spain\/","title":{"rendered":"FIH Pro League hockey: Vaishnavi shines as Indian women start with thrilling win; Harmanpreet and Co lose vs Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/data.indianexpress.com\/election2019\/track_1x1.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"FIH Pro League hockey: Vaishnavi shines as Indian women start with thrilling win; Harmanpreet and Co lose vs Spain\" title=\"FIH Pro League hockey: Vaishnavi shines as Indian women start with thrilling win; Harmanpreet and Co lose vs Spain\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p>One Indian team scored two goals from penalty corners out of the three they earned, and another Indian team didn\u2019t convert any of their three such chances. Before the day\u2019s FIH Pro League action began in Bhubaneswar, one would not have quite believed that the former would be the women\u2019s team.<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s how it transpired as Harendra Singh\u2019s India emerged 3-2 winners in a thriller against England, while Craig Fulton\u2019s Olympic medallists began their campaign with a 1-3 defeat against Spain.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"iframe-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/wp-content\/themes\/indianexpress\/images\/lazy_placeholder.gif\" data-lazy-type=\"iframe\" data-src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/3hoQBvyCGPipAyQPJi4OPr?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke (6th minute), who was arguably India\u2019s best player on the pitch, and Deepika (25\u2019) scored from India\u2019s first two penalty corners in the first half. After England fought back to make it 2-2 with just two minutes to go through Fiona Crackles (58\u2032), vice captain Navneet Kaur (59\u2019) smashed in the winner in the dying moments of the match. Darcy Bourne (12\u2019) had scored England\u2019s first goal.<\/p>\n<div class=\"osv-ad-class\" style=\"background-color: #f2f2f2;height: 375px;margin-bottom: 15px;\">\n<p>Story continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Sunelita Toppo made a bright start to the match down the left flank and it was her drilled pass into the circle that resulted in a penalty corner. Manisha Chauhan\u2019s drag flick was deflected to Sushila Chanu, who was alert to the advantage being played by the referee and her pass found a Vaishnavi at the back post to deflect the ball in. It wasn\u2019t a direct penalty corner goal but it was quick thinking from all three of players involved in the set-piece \u2014 drag-flicker Manisha, stopper Sushila and the injector Vaishnavi.<\/p>\n<p>India, however, conceded a sloppy goal to undo the early good work, dominant as they were for the opening 10 minutes. Vaishnavi\u2019s alertness led to the first goal but the defender lost the ball inside India\u2019s circle. Maddie Axford pounced, and Bourne bundled the ball in after a rebound off goalkeeper Savita, who saved the first shot. But the ball looped up, hit her stick and fell kindly for the England player. It was a rare mistake in possession from Vaishnavi, who has otherwise shown impressive control.<\/p>\n<p>Deepika, who wasn\u2019t on the pitch for the first penalty corner, fired it in from the second one, nailing the inside-out shot past the defence. Coach Harendra Singh has vowed to make her one of the best in the world from these situations and after being the top scorer at the Asian Champions Trophy last year, she has begun the Pro League on a strong note too.<\/p>\n<p>With four minutes left, Vaishnavi produced a crucial intervention. With England winning the ball high up the field and having numbers in their favour, they looked set to score, but the 21-year-old put in a late tackle to keep India\u2019s lead. England did equalise shortly after, but Vaishnavi still had one big moment left in her. From a long corner, she started dribbling towards the circle, and played a brilliant pass to Navneet with a hint of deception. She originally shaped as if hitting a straight forehand pass but at the last moment, changed direction and found the forward, who hit a powerful shot through the goalkeeper\u2019s legs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"adboxtop adsizes\">\n<p>Story continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe started very well but there was a drop in intensity and England were in the driving seat, structurally they were good,\u201d Harendra told reporters after the match. \u201cWe should have killed the match in the fourth quarter. That\u2019s the mindset we want. I want us to get as many points at home in these Bhubaneswar matches so when we go to Europe, we know where we are. I give credit to the team that they didn\u2019t switch off at 2-2, didn\u2019t go defensive, they went and got the goal in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Starting trouble<\/h2>\n<p>For the men\u2019s team, it wasn\u2019t a pleasant return to international action after a lengthy break. They did start the match well against Spain, scoring a brilliant goal to take the lead. Sanjay threw an aerial from deep inside India\u2019s half, Harmanpreet Singh \u2013 who usually initiates these attacks \u2013 was beyond the midfield on the right flank to receive with great control. His pass to Jarmanpreet Singh was inch-perfect, and the defender then cut the ball back to Sukhjeet Singh in the centre to convert with a fine reverse hit.<\/p>\n<p>But Spain grew in confidence, especially in the third quarter where their pressure from the penalty corners paid off, albeit with a hint of fortune after a mistrap.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"iframe-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/wp-content\/themes\/indianexpress\/images\/lazy_placeholder.gif\" data-lazy-type=\"iframe\" data-src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/7alLyZ30GEtvjscKiAkYAm?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe started pretty well, we kept good pressure and we got many opportunities as well. But we won\u2019t be too negative as it was our first match after a long time. We need to work more on our finishing part,\u201d Harmanpreet said after the match.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\nif(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\nn.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\ns.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\nfbq('init', '444470064056909');\nfbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/sports\/hockey\/fih-pro-league-hockey-vaishnavi-harmanpreet-india-9838107\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One Indian team scored two goals from penalty corners out of the three they earned, and another Indian team didn\u2019t convert any of their three such chances. Before the day\u2019s FIH Pro League action began in Bhubaneswar, one would not have quite believed that the former would be the women\u2019s team. But that\u2019s how it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/data.indianexpress.com\/election2019\/track_1x1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[605],"tags":[211254,85404,211277,211279,140013,211269,23134,189983,211284,211251,211287,211286,211285,94011,211295,211276,45459,211296,211264,211275,9771,211293,211294,209844,211292,86125,211291,211252,211289,211261,211260,211283,211273,211262,211272,211271,87680,211253,211256,211267,211282,211257,211266,209815,211288,211265,211255,189982,1025,211290,2873,210,211280,211259,211270,4642,14580,11843,2885,211274,211281,211263,8614,173458,211258,211278,211268,1460,3653],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274422"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274422"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":274424,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274422\/revisions\/274424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}