Indian sports wrap, May 29: Indian junior men’s hockey team loses to Germany

HOCKEY

Indian junior men’s hockey team suffers heart-breaking loss to Germany

The Indian junior men’s hockey team went down 2-3 to Germany in a match that went down to the final minute on its Europe tour.

Yogember Rawat and Gurjot Singh scored for the India on Tuesday.

The first quarter had plenty of action with both teams finding themselves with opportunities to take the lead through penalty corners. As neither team got past each other’s defence, the quarter remained goalless.

Five minutes into the second quarter, the Germans broke the deadlock with a field goal to take the lead. India continued to prove the resilience that it has displayed in every game of the tour as it equalised through a penalty corner via defender Yogember to end the first half with the score reading 1-1.

India won another penalty corner a few minutes into the third quarter and forward Gurjot made full use of it to put his team in the lead. But Germany didn’t stay quiet for too long as it equalised just minutes later with a penalty corner, taking the game into the final quarter with nothing to separate the two sides.

The visitor had a chance to regain its lead early in the final quarter but was unable to find the back of the net on the penalty corner.

The Germans were awarded a penalty corner in the final moments of the game and they capitalised on it to seal the game 3-2 just in the nick of time.

India will play its final match of the Europe tour against Germany in Breda, Netherlands on Wednesday.

- PTI

FOOTBALL

AIFF Futsal Club Championship from June 22-July 5

The All India Football Federation’s Futsal Club Championship 2023-24 will be held at Swarnim Gujarat Sports University from June 22 to July 5 in Gujarat.

The draw was conducted at the Football House here on Wednesday. In total, 18 teams will participate in the championship.

As many as 14 teams have been nominated by their respective state associations, while four semi-finalist teams (Delhi Football Club, Mohammedan Sporting Club, Minerva Academy FC, Electric Veng Futsal Club), of last season’s Hero Futsal Club Championship have been given direct entry.

The tournament will be played on a league cum knock-out round format where group winners of all four groups will make the Semi-finals.

-PTI

VOLLEYBALL

Indian women’s volleyball team finishes 5th in Challenge Cup

Indian women’s volleyball team defeated Iran 3-0 on Wednesday to finish fifth in the AVC Women Challenge Cup, organised in Manila from May 22 to 29.

India won 25-17, 25-16, 25-11 with captain Jini, blocker Soorya, Anushree and Silpa playing vital roles in the victory.

India had won bronze medal in the 2022 edition of the tournament.

- PTI

TENNIS

AITA tennis tournament, Jassowal: Janhavi pips fourth-seeded Samaira to enter last-four

Janhavi Kajla fought her way past fourth seed Samaira Malik 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-2 in the women’s quarterfinals of the Rs. 200,000 AITA ranking tennis tournament at the Harvest Academy, Jassowal, on Wednesday.

In the semifinals, the 15-year-old Janhavi will play second seed Aditi Rawat. The other semifinal will be between top seed Sahira Singh and Shatakshi Chaudhary.

In the men’s section, fourth seed Neeraj Yashpaul battled past Ricky Chaudhary 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 to set up a semifinal against top seed Shivank Bhatnagar. The other semifinal will be between former National champion Dalwinder Singh and second seed Udit Kamboj.

-Team Sportstar

India’s Vasanti Shinde in doubles quarters at ITF tournament in Italy

Vasanti Shinde in partnership with Nicole Huergo beat Natela Dzalamidze and Katarina Zavatska 7-6(50 2-6, [10-7] in the doubles pre-quarterfinals of the $60,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Brescia, Italy.

In the $82,000 Challenger in Little Rock, USA, Ramkumar Ramanathan was beaten 7-5, 6-2 by qualifier Christian Langmo in the first round.

-Team Sportstar