India outplay Spain 2-0 to begin hockey World Cup campaign in style
Rourkela, Jan 13: A commanding India dished out a superb show of attacking hockey to outplay a tricky Spain 2-0 in their FIH men's World Cup campaign opener here on Friday.
Local boy Amit Rohidas was among the goal scorers as he struck in the 12th minute from a penalty corner to the wild cheer of the packed Birsa Munda Stadium, which made its debut as an international hockey venue on Friday.
Hardik Singh scored a brilliant field goal in the 26th minute after a fine solo run as India, chasing their first medal after 1975, boosted their chances of making it to the quarterfinals from Pool D.
The score-line did not reflect the degree of domination by India, who could have won by a bigger margin but the world number six team did not allow their European opponents, ranked two rungs below them, to play their game.
India got five penalty corners and scored from the second one.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh also missed a penalty stroke in the third quarter.
Young goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak was brilliant in front of the bar as he made some fine saves, including from penalty corners.
Spain were always a tricky opponent for India but it was the home team which dictated the terms to the Europeans, who had the upper hand in the four Pro League matches last year, winning two and losing one.
The Indians were quick on the attack as well as in counter-attack and won a lot of balls from their opponents. Spain had a couple of chances besides three penalty corners, which they wasted.
Spain dominated the midfield battle in the initial minutes without getting any scoring chance.
India settled down nicely after taking a measure of their opponents and started pressing towards the end of the first quarter.
Most of the attacks began from the right flank with Nilakanta Sharma, Mandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh and Abhishek in the thick of things.
India's incessant pressing paid off as they got three penalty corners in quick succession and took the lead in the 12th minute of the second one through Rohidas.
Harmanpreet's drag-flick came off the stick of a Spanish defender and the ball fell to Rohidas whose powerful hit beat the Spanish goalkeeper all ends up.
Just a minute later, India got another penalty corner but Harmanpreet failed to find the target.
Just before the end of the first quarter, Abhishek outwitted a couple of Spanish defender inside the circle but the efforts did not result in a goal.
Nilakanta also took a shot but sent it wide.
The second quarter also went almost identical as the first, as action remained mostly in the Indian half initially as Spain pressed hard for the equaliser.
But four minutes from half time, Hardik made a fantastic run down the left channel and then sent a cross on the face of the goal. It beat the Spanish goalkeeper and forced a defender to deflect it in for India's second goal.
Spain got their first first penalty corner soon but wasted it.
The third quarter did not yield any goal but had plenty of drama as captain Harmanpreet wasted a penalty stroke in the 32nd minute. His effort was ruled to have been saved by the Spanish keeper after a video referral by India.
Earlier in the day, England thrashed neighbours Wales 5-0 in another Pool D match.
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Deputy CM Shivakumar fumes at Minister Jarkiholi for his statement on replacing KPCC prez
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday hit out at Minister Satish Jarkiholi for his statement on replacing him as the party's state president.
Shivakumar has been serving as Congress state chief since 2020.
"Can anyone get it (post) in the media? You can't get it in the media or any shop. It is given as a reward for the work we do. Will the media gift it to you. These are new trends," Shivakumar told reporters here.
Jarkiholi on Wednesday sparked a debate within the ruling Congress over the change of the state president, saying a full-time leader was needed to devote more time to the party in the state.
According to him, while there is a lot of discussion happening at the lower levels, it should come from the top.
Later, he clarified that he never spoke about replacing Shivakumar as the Congress president.
Taking a U-turn from his statement apparently after a rap from the party high command, the minister on late Wednesday blamed the media for twisting his statement.
"The reports that appeared in the media are far from truth. Some media reports were made to look grandiose," Jarkiholi, who holds public works portfolio, said in a video statement on his Facebook page.
"I never spoke about replacing D K Shivakumar. I only gave some suggestions keeping in view the party organisation and upcoming elections," he added.
He said such statement should have come from the top, but it came from the ground level, to which he belongs.
Meanwhile, the Congress state working president Manjunath Bhandary on Thursday asked seniors to refrain from making such statements.
The seniors who violate the high command's orders are not disciplined soldiers of the Congress, Bhandary said in a statement.
According to him, the leadership of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior leaders Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi are strong in the party.
"The party high command leaders will decide all matters such as when to change the KPCC president and the chief minister, who should continue or who should be the ministers. However, no minister should give a statement in this regard," Bhandary said.
The decision on leadership change should not be discussed with the media. There is a high command in the party. If there are any issues, the party leaders should first bring them to the attention of the high command and not before the media, the Congress working president said.
He added that the high command has sought a report of those who have made such statements.
