The Indian hockey team has progressed to the quarterfinals of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's Junior World Cup 2021, Bhubaneswar on Saturday (November 27). India vanquished Poland with a convincing 8-2 win in a must-win encounter at the ongoing Junior Hockey World Cup.
India commenced their must-win match with a bang. The defending champions took charge and took a comfortable 2-0 lead against their Polish opponents in the first quarter.
Sanjay, who has been in red hot form, struck for India in the first few minutes of the game while another goal from Hundal Araijeet Singh provided India with the advantage required.
Sudeep scored in the second quarter to help India continue its positive momentum and move an inch closer to defending the title. He tricked the polish defense and helped India score their third goal of the match.
Uttam Singh stepped forward to add to the already robust effort from the teammates to score the fourth goal of the match in the fourth quarter. Captain Vivek Sagar Prasad's brilliant move, a precisely timed cut-back, created the chance to move forward in the game.
India continued their valiant effort to dominate Poland's hockey team. Sharda Nand Tiwari's drag flicked the ball towards Sudeep as he scored his second goal and India's sixth goal of the night to leave no room for the Polish team to make a comeback in the match.
Poland returned from a 0-6 deficit to score two quick goals in the fourth quarter of the match. Wojciech Rutkowski struck the first goal of the night for the Polish team through a penalty corner.
Meanwhile, Robert Pawlak scored Poland's second goal to take the team to the 2-6 scoreline.
The reigning champions left no stone unturned until the last minute of the match. Sanjay pulled off a field goal in the final few minutes to score the seventh goal of the group stage match for India.
The Indian colt's optimistic approach got Bhubaneswar roaring in delight as Araijeet Singh Hundal scored his second goal of the game just before the last whistle of the night.
Earlier, India made a scintillating comeback after suffering a hardfought defeat against France to pull off a massive 13-1 win against Canada on Thursday (November 25).
FIH Odisha Hockey Men's Junior World Cup: Quarterfinal date
India will be up against Belgium in the quarterfinals of the prestigious FIH Odisha Hockey Men's Junior World Cup 2021.
India vs Belgium quarterfinals: December 1, 2021
FIH Odisha Hockey Men's Junior World Cup: Live streaming details
All matches at the 2021 Men's Junior Hockey World Cup will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network. Audiences can also live stream the Hockey World Cup on the Watch Hockey website (https://watch.hockey/).