Others

India's young hockey team displayed remarkable resilience and composure to secure a thrilling 3-3 draw against New Zealand in their final round-robin match at the Sultan of Johor Cup on Friday. The result leaves India's fate in the hands of other teams as they await the outcome of Great Britain and Australia's matches against Japan and Malaysia, respectively.India started the match brightly, taking an early lead through Gurjot Singh's fine goal in the 6th minute. Gurjot's second attempt on goal, assisted by Sukhvinder, proved successful as he lofted the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net. India had a chance to extend their lead in the 8th minute with two back-to-back penalty corners, but the New Zealand goalkeeper produced outstanding saves to deny them.New Zealand gradually grew into the game and created an attacking formation that helped them make a successful foray into the striking circle. However, Rosan Kujur's sharp defense kept them from scoring. In the 17th minute, New Zealand's Jonty Elmes equalized with a fine field goal. India responded quickly, with Rohit striking from a penalty corner to regain the lead.Both teams played with frantic speed and intensity, with India creating a flurry of penalty corners towards the end of the second quarter. However, they were unable to find success. To their dismay, New Zealand began the third quarter with a fine penalty corner conversion by Elmes, who had struck for the second time. Elmes' fierce power in his drag-flick was a pain-point for Indian defense, as he completed a hat-trick of goals in the 45th minute to take New Zealand 3-2 ahead.India's problems with penalty corner conversion continued in the fourth quarter as they missed a chance in the 46th minute. New Zealand, on the other hand, came up with brilliant counter attacks in the following minutes, but Indian defense held sway. With 90 seconds left on the clock, India found a golden opportunity to equalize when they earned a penalty corner. This time, they found success with a splendid variation which was executed to perfection by Talem Priyobarta, ending the thrilling encounter with a 3-3 draw.

Indian Junior Men's Hockey Team Embarks on European Tour with Rohit as CaptainThe Indian junior men's hockey team, under the leadership of defender Rohit, is set to embark on a European tour from May 20-29. The 20-member squad will play five matches across three nations—Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands—as part of Hockey India's initiative to provide the team with valuable exposure and experience.Rohit, who has been a key member of the Indian junior team for the past two years, expressed his excitement about the upcoming tour. "We have been training hard at our camp and have developed an understanding of each other's gameplay," he said. "It will be wonderful to play together against teams from other nations to help us build on our game and get better through this kind of exposure."The team's vice-captain, Shardanand Tiwari, echoed Rohit's sentiments. "This will be a wonderful experience and will go a long way in evaluating where we stand as a team and as individual players," he said. "It will be a great way to figure out our strengths and what areas we would need to touch upon."The Indian team will face a tough challenge during their tour, as they will be playing against some of the top junior teams in Europe. However, the players are confident that they can perform well and gain valuable experience."We are all very excited about this tour," said midfielder Ankit Pal. "We have been working hard in training and we are ready to give our best on the field. We know that the competition will be tough, but we are confident that we can perform well and make our country proud."The Indian team will play their first match on May 20 against Belgium in Antwerp, before playing the same opponents in Breda, Netherlands on May 22. India will then play the Netherlands' Club team Bredase Hockey Vereniging Push in Breda on May 23, followed by a game against Germany on May 28 in Germany. They will then return to Breda to play Germany once again on 29th May in their final match of the tour.