FIH Hockey Pro League: Sukhjeet Singh Brace Helps India Stun World Champions Germany 3-2

Rourkela: Striker Sukhjeet Singh struck a second half brace as India stunned world champions Germany 3-2 in the FIH Pro League hockey, which is their first outing after the World Cup debacle on Friday.

The 26-year-old Sukhjeet, one of the players who survived the axe after India’s shock pre-quarterfinal exit in the World Cup in January, scored in the 31st and 42nd minutes, both goals coming from field efforts.

His captain Harmanpreet Singh, joint top-scorer in the tournament so far, had given the home side the lead in the 30th minute through a penalty corner conversion.

Harmanpreet had also flopped big time during the World Cup held here and in Bhubaneswar as he had struggled to find the target from his drag flick in the big matches in the showpiece.

India were 3-0 up in the 42nd minute before Paul-Philipp Kaufmann and Michel Struthoff struck for Germany in the 44th and 57th minutes respectively. The Germans, who came with several players of their World Cup-winning team, struggled to score from the penalty corners. They got six PCs as against four of India.

India face Australia on Sunday and Germany again in the second leg on Monday.