NEW DELHI: India on Saturday defeated South Africa 5-2 in the Classification play-off match to take the ninth spot in the Hockey Men’s World Cup in Rourkela.
Abhishek Nain scored a brilliant field goal to open the scoring in the first quarter, before Harmanpreet converted a penalty corner to double India’s advantage. After a goalless 2nd and 3rd quarters, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh and Sukhjeet Singh found the net for India in the final quarter. For South Africa, Samkelo Mvimbi scored a field goal, while Mustaphaa Cassiem converted a penalty stroke.
Sukhjeet scored India’s fifth. Akashdeep took the ball inside the circle, taking a reverse stick shot but was blocked by the South African keeper.
In the previous encounter, India thumped Japan 8-0 in and will look to continue their dominating run and end the tournament on a high. In terms of head to head record, India and South Africa have met 16 times, out of which India has won 11 while the Proteas have won 4 and one match has been a draw.