Hockey World Cup 2018, India vs South Africa: 5 Talking Points 

#4 Indian defence standing solid as a rock

Chinglensana Singh was one of the star players of the match

If India managed to keep a clean slate in their debut match of the Hockey World Cup, a major credit would go to the Indian defenders, who have been notorious otherwise as the Achilles' Heel of the Indian hockey team.

Often their clumsy defence had cost India major titles, one of the worst memories being that of Rio Olympics, where despite leading the first half, India squandered the lead and went down unceremoniously to Belgium in the quarterfinals.

Led by charismatic goalkeeper P R Sreejesh, who had it easy throughout, the Indian defenders played extremely well, buoyed by the vociferous cheers of the Indian crowd. One of the star defenders of this match was Chinglensana Singh, who was incidentally playing his 200th international match. He led the defence ably by denying South Africa even a minor breakthrough that could upset the Indian equations.

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