Bhubaneswar: The Indian men’s team have been crowned the inaugural FIH Hockey 5s champions with a 6-4 win over Poland in the final. The women’s team, on the other hand, failed to reach the final.
Bobby Singh Dhami (11′, 19′) and Mohammed Raheel (13′, 17′), who finished as the top goalscorer at FIH Hockey 5s, netted twice, while Sanjay (8′) and captain Gurinder Singh (9′) also contributed to the team’s victory. The goalscorers for Poland were Mateusz Nowakowski (1′), Robert Pawlak (5′), Wojciech Rutkowski (5′) and Captain Jacek Kurowski (18′).
The first half started with Poland piling pressure on India and were successful in converting their chances as they established a three-goal cushion inside the first five minutes, courtesy of goals from Mateusz Nowakowski (1′), Robert Pawlak (5′) and Wojciech Rutkowski (5′).
However, India responded quickly as pulled back two back-to-back goals through Sanjay and Captain Gurinder Singh in the eighth and ninth minute respectively to make the scorers 2-3 at the end of the first half.
The second half started on a positive note for the Indian team as Boby Singh Dhami scored the equaliser in the 11th minute, and the leading goalscorer of the tournament Raheel went on to give India a lead in the 13th minute.
In the 17th minute, Raheel added the fifth goal to the tally, but Poland quickly pulled back one through Captain Jacek Kurowski’s strike in the 18th minute. However, Bobby Singh Dhami scored a late goal before the final whistle to help India pick up a thrilling 6-4 win to clinch the inaugural FIH Hockey5s Title.
Massive wins in the last two round-robin matches
Earlier in the day, India registered massive 7-3 and 6-2 wins against Malaysia and Poland respectively to advance to the Final of the inaugural edition of the FIH Hockey5s.
In their third match, the Indian Men’s Team registered a comprehensive 7-3 win against Malaysia. Mohammed Raheel (8′, 14′, 18′) starred with a hat-trick, while Gursahibjit Singh (1′, 17′) and Sanjay (10′, 12′) each netted twice for India. Firadus Rosdi (4′, 13′) and Captain Nabil Noor (9′) were the goalscorers for Malaysia.
