India's prospects of winning the Akhbar El-Yom fifth international hockey championship suffered a serious setback when they crashed to a 4-7 defeat against Poland at Cairo, Egypt, on Wednesday.

India put up a lacklustre performance as Poland, taking advantage of some defensive lapses early on, pumped in five goals in first 15 minutes of the match.

Though India, comprising mostly up and coming players, managed a comeback, scoring three goals in quick succession, Poland put the issue beyond their opponents by scoring two more goals.

This was India's first defeat in five matches. They beaten Scotland, Greece and France and drew with Pakistan.

India play their last match against hosts Egypt on Thursday.