Captain Harmanpreet Singh stood tall on another occasion as India sailed past Ireland in their third Pool match at the ongoing Paris Olympics on Tuesday, July 30. Harmanpreet struck twice to inspire India to their second group-stage win.
The win takes India to the top of Pool B with 7 points from three matches. India have now defeated New Zealand and Ireland, while they played a 1-1 draw with Argentina sandwiched between these wins. India have kept a big step in their charge towards the quarterfinals. The Men in Blue have played one game more than Belgium and Australia but they are set to stay in the top two after all their group teams play three matches each.
India displayed an impressive mix of attack and defence. They were strong for most of the game, barring the third quarter when the Men in Blue conceded as many as eight penalty corners. But the defence line and PR Sreejesh did well not to concede a goal as they maintained a clean sheet.
It was Harmanpreet, who scored both the goals for India. He struck first in the 11th minute with a penalty stroke when the Irish defence committed a foul near the goal. The Indian skipper went to the left of the goalkeeper and found the back of the net. He struck again in the 19th minute on a penalty corner. After being blocked by the Irish defence, the Indian skipper went to his left and found the back of the net yet again.
Ireland, who came off after putting in decent performances against Australia and Belgium, did not have answers as such. They did not press much and while they had chances through a string of penalty corners, the Irish team could not put a goal in.
India now face Belgium and Australia in their final two group matches. The India vs Belgium clash will take place on August 1, with the Australia game to follow on the following day.
