BHUBANESWAR: Eyeing their second win against India in the fourth edition of FIH Pro League, Spain threw everything at the hosts. But they hit a wall in the form of Krishan Bahadur Pathak at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
The goalkeeper put up a performance of a lifetime as India won the last match of the mini tournament 3-1 via shootout in front of a huge enthusiastic crowd after the match had finished 2-2 in regulation time.
After a stellar show in the 60 minutes, Pathak was riding high on confidence and took it into the shootouts where he saved as many as three shots and conceded only once.
On the other hand, the Indians had no trouble in hitting the goal. First, Harmanpreet Singh won a stroke and converted while Raj Kumar Pal scored the second. Shamsher Singh did score but it was disallowed because of a back stick and finally Abhishek scored the last one.
Earlier in regulation time, Harmanpreet once again was unstoppable from the PCs as he scored both the goals to put India in a comfortable position. He scored the first one in the 12th minute and the second in the 32nd.
With this kind of form, he is sure to top the scoring charts in the Pro League once again and will be the trump card for India during the World Cup to be held in January next year.
However, the day belonged to Pathak.
Not only in this game but over the two weeks, he has shown what he is capable of. For a long PR Sreejesh has been India’s only hope as far as goalkeeping is concerned but Pathak’s show will not only bring a smile to Sreejesh’s face but will allow coach Graham Reid to breathe a sigh of relief.
During regulation time, Spain won as many as 13 PCs but Pathak kept denying them over and over again. It was only once that Pathak was beaten from the PC when Marc Miralles converted their seventh PC late in the third quarter.
As for Spain’s second goal, he was plain unlucky. Pere Amat slapped it hard towards the goal in the 55th minute from the right. Pathak saved the shot with his right foot but the rebound hit Jugraj Singh’s leg and rolled into the goal.
With five minutes left on the clock, Spain went all out for victory but Pathak was unbreachable.
The two teams will now face off again on January 13 next year in their opening game of the World Cup and the Indian fans will be more than happy if Pathak can put up a similar show on that day as well.
Cash awards for men’s and women’s teams: Hockey India announced on Sunday they will give away cash awards of Rs 50,000 each for players and Rs 25,000 each for support staff for every win the Indian men and women’s hockey teams register.
