Champions Trophy: Indian lose to defending champions Australia
Breda, June 27: India went down 2-3 to World No.1 Australia in a hard fought third round robin match of the Men's Hockey Champions Trophy Breda 2018 here on Wednesday.
Varun Kumar (10th minute) and Harmanpreet Singh (58th) scored for India. Young forward Lachlan Sharp (6th minute) had given defending champions Australia an early lead while Tom Craig (15th) and Trent Mitton (33rd) scored the other goals.
With a place in the final at stake, the match began with an action-packed first quarter with both teams keeping each other on the edge. It were Australia who drew first blood with a splendid goal by Sharp.
The Indian defence was hoodwinked when Jake Whetton was quick to assist Eddie Ockenden whose cross was well picked up by Sharp to deflect past Indian goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh.
India were quick to respond with an improvised attack that fetched them a penalty corner, but a miss-trap off Sardar Singh's injection saw the effort being missed. India earned another penalty corner through Lalit Upadhyay but again the ball bounced off before being trapped but the possession remained with India.
It was S.V. Sunil's brilliant cross to an unmarked Varun Kumar that helped India equalise. Varun made no mistake in picking it up well and flicking it past Australian goalkeeper Tyler Lovell.
Australia however, ended the quarter one goal up as Tom Craig converted a penalty corner. It was messy defensive work by India. Though Sreejesh blocked the first two attempts, the ball was free before Australia drove it in.
With Australia leading 2-1, India showed positive intent as they won a penalty corner two minutes into the second quarter. However, the chance was not capitalised.
India won yet another penalty corner, their fourth, in the following minute but Harmanpreet Singh drove the flick straight into Australia's first rusher. The following minutes saw both teams trade penalty corners, but Sreejesh kept his team in the game with brilliant saves.
With Sunil and Manpreet Singh being sent away with a green and a yellow card respectively, Australia took advantage of fewer India players on the pitch as they beat the defence to score their third goal through Trent Mitton off a Tom Craig assist.
Australia dominated the proceedings as they won their fifth penalty corner, putting India's defence under further stress. It seemed as though the compactness the Indian team showed against Argentina was missing.
Sreejesh was up to the task again when he made an effective save off Australia's sixth penalty corner attempt, but India's overall performance in the third quarter was not at par with Australia.
Going into the final quarter, a goal continued to elude India. Two excellent shots on goal by Sardar Singh followed by Vivek Sagar Prasad in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter were well saved by a very alert Australian goalkeeper.
India made a strong comeback with just two minutes left for the final hooter when they won back-to-back penalty corners. Harmanpreet converted India's eighth penalty corner attempt, narrowing the gap to 2-3.
India will face World No.3 Belgium on Thursday.
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59 percent voter turnout in first phase in J-K, polling peaceful: CEO
Jammu, Sep 18: A voter turnout of about 59 percent -- "the highest in the past seven elections" -- was recorded in the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole said.
However, these are tentative figures and may rise after the final reports are received about postal ballots, and from remote pockets like Marwah, Wadwan, Dachhan and Machail in Kishtwar, the officer said.
Briefing mediapersons here after polling ended at 6 pm, Pole said the elections -- which covered 24 seats in seven districts -- ended peacefully without any untoward incident.
There are reports of some minor incidents of scuffle or argument from a few polling stations but "no serious incident" occurred that could have forced a repoll, he said.
Over 2.3 million voters were eligible to cast the ballot to determine the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 Independents.
"The polling percentage of 59 percent is highest in the past seven elections -- four Lok Sabha polls and three assembly elections," he said, attributing the increase in the voter turnout to various factors including improved security situation, active participation of political parties and candidates and a campaign by the department.
He said Kishtwar district recorded the highest 77 percent turnout, while Pulwama district witnessed the lowest 46 percent.
Doda district recorded a turnout of 69.33 percent, Ramban district 67.71 percent, Kulgam district 61.57 percent, Anantnag district 54.17 percent and Shopian district 53.64 percent.
In the 2014 assembly elections, the district wise poll percentage was: Pulwama 44 percent, Shopian 48 percent, Kulgam 59 percent, Anantnag 60 percent, Ramban 70 percent, Doda 73 percent and Kishtwar 76 percent.
In Kishtwar districts, he said, the Padder-Nagseni segment recorded the highest 80.67 percent voting followed by Inderwal (80.06 percent) and Kishtwar (78.11 percent).
In the nearby Doda district, Doda west segment recorded 75.98 percent, Doda (70.21 percent) and Bhaderwah (65.27 percent).
In Ramban district, Banihal segment recorded 71.28 percent and Ramban 67.34 percent, he said.
Among the seven constituencies of Anantnag district, Pahalgam recorded the highest voter turnout at 67.86 percent, followed by Kokernag (58 percent), Dooru (57.90 percent), Srigufwara-Bijbehara (56.02 percent), Shangus-Anantnag (52.94 percent), Anantnag West (45.93 percent) and Anantnag 41.58 percent, Pole said.
In Pulwama district, the CEO said, the Pulwama segment witnessed 50.42 percent polling, followed by Rajpora 48.07 percent, Pampore 44.74 percent and Tral 43.21 percent.
In Shopian district, the Shopian segment recorded a voter turnout of 54.72 percent and Zainapora 52.64 percent.
In Kulgam district, D H Pora recorded a turnout of 68 percent, Kulgam 62.70 percent and Devsar 57.33 percent, Pole said.
He said seven districts of south Kashmir had been traditionally low poll percentage constituencies and in some of the past elections, the percentage had not even crossed the single digit.
Asked about a social media video purportedly showing a policeman losing temper and aiming his gun before being overpowered by his colleagues outside a polling station in Kishtwar, he said the district election officer and the returning officer concerned have taken note and issue was resolved amicably.
PDP and BJP candidates were involved in an argument at the polling station.
Pole expressed hope that the remaining two phases on September 25 and October 1 will also see high polling percentage.
Meanwhile, the election commission expressed satisfaction over the long queues of voters at the polling stations showcasing the entire world, the deep trust and confidence of the people of J&K in the democratic exercise.
The polling was held across 3,276 Polling Stations in the seven districts and 24 special polling stations set up for migrant pandits in Jammu, Udhampur and Delhi.
According to officials, 31.42 percent of the more than 35,000 eligible kashmiri migrant voters exercised their franchise. While 27 percent cast their votes at 19 polling stations in Jammu, 40 percent at four polling stations in Delhi and 30 percent at one polling station in Udhampur.
In each of the seven districts where voting was held in the first phase, the voter participation exceeded the participation during the Lok Sabha 2024 elections, the election commission said in a release.
The performance builds on the trend witnessed during the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir which saw a voter turnout of 58.58 percent at polling stations, highest in the last 35 years.
Voting began at 7 am and proceeded steadily through the day. Men and women, the young and old, some too frail to walk and others patiently waiting their turn, queued up outside polling booths across Kashmir Valley and Jammu.
Security forces fanned out to ensure that there was no trouble. The day was largely without incident except for reports of clashes between political workers in some areas of Bijbehara and D H Pora.
