Azlan Shah Cup: India squander lead twice as Britain earn a draw

Ipoh (Malaysia) : India squandered the lead twice as Great Britain rallied to earn a 2-2 draw in the rain-delayed opening match at the 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament here. Akashdeep Singh (19th min) and Mandeep Singh (48th min) scored field goals to give India the lead two times in the match only to see the Britons hit back through Tom Carson (25th min) and Alan Forsyth (52nd min).
India survived a last-minute penalty corner that was awarded for an obstruction outside the circle. The penalty corner was confirmed after the video referral by India, but British captain Phil Roper sent his dragflick wide to the right. In the last encounter between these two teams, India had defeated Great Britain 2-1 in the Champions Trophy in London last year.The match started two hours behind the schedule after the teams, who were warming up, had to scurry off the turf when lightning and heavy showers arrived in the afternoon. India are scheduled to play four of their five round-robin league matches in the afternoon, exactly when dark clouds tend to drench the pitch at the Ipoh hockey stadium.Great Britain launched the first raid in the ninth minute and Henry Weir took a reverse shot at the goal from the top of the circle, only to see goalkeeper PR Sreejesh pad the ball away.Three minute later, India could have posed a danger to the British citadel when Akashdeep beat a defender guarding the circle with a shot that went straight to SV Sunil inside the scoring zone. But Sunil failed to trap the ball and British goalkeeper Harry Gibson was not tested. India were awarded their first penalty corner when Pradeep Mor’s diagonal ball landed on a defender’s foot in the circle.