PARIS: Harmanpreet Singh saved his best for last as an error-prone India left it late to salvage a point against Argentina in their second group game. The men’s hockey team, who secured the points in the opening game against New Zealand with less than 120 seconds on the clock, were once again below par against an opposition they would have been expected to beat.
To be fair to India, they did have chances to open the scoring and multiply their advantage but Argentina, the 2016 champions in Rio de Janeiro, drew first blood in the 22nd minute via Lucas Martinez. In hindsight, PR Sreejesh should have probably saved that shot. The team created yet more penalty corners (in all, they had 10 penalty corners but converted only one) but Argentina continued to deny them. In the stands, they had support from Rahul Dravid, who has been out and about, watching Indians in action.
After the half-time break, Argentina had some dangerous counter-attacking chances to double their lead but they were thwarted. In the 36th minute, India had a big let off as Casella Schuth missed a penalty stroke following a penalty corner.
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