New Delhi: Olympic bronze – medalists India wasted chances galore to lose 0-2 to world champions Germany in the first hockey Test of the two-match series here on Wednesday. Germany, who are reigning Olympic silver-medallists, fielded a young team for the series. It lived up to the expectations, at least in the first match, with Henrik Mertgens (4th minute) and skipper Lukas Windfeder (30th minute) scoring the winning goals. There was great excitement surrounding the series as international hockey was returning to the national capital for the first time after 2014. The Major Dhyan Chand Stadium witnessed a good turnout but the fans had to return disappointed as home team’s ever-reliable skipper and star drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh endured a rare off day.
The second Test of the series will be played on Thursday. The Indians were slow off the blocks as Germany dominated the exchanges in the first quarter. The two teams were clashing for the first time after Germany beat India in the Paris Olympics semifinal. It took only four minutes for the visitors to take the lead, courtesy some poor defending from the Indians. Mertgens was quick to spot the opportunity and slammed home the ball for the early edge.
Germany secured the first penalty corner of the match four minutes later but India went for a video referral which was upheld. The Indians made some circle penetrations but didn’t really threaten the German defence. In the ninth minute, India secured their first penalty corner but wasted the opportunity in the absence of Harmanpreet, who had been substituted in that moment.
The Indians came back strongly in the second quarter and dominated the exchanges. India secured their second penalty corner in the 22nd minute and went for variation but Sanjay’s effort went wide. Three minutes later, India earned another penalty corner, but Amit Rohidas’ grounded flick was easily saved by the German defence. Seconds later, back-to-back penalty corners came India’s way but not a goal as Harmanpreet looked off colour. India’s sixth penalty corner came in the 27th minute from which Dilpreet Singh scored from a rebound but the Germans protested and the umpire asked for a referral, which resulted in a penalty stroke for the hosts. But as luck would have it, India’s most trusted player and skipper Harmanpreet’s effort from the spot was saved by the German keeper Joshua Onyekwue Nanji.