Indian defence crumbled under the onslaught of a rampaging Australia as they were handed a 1-5 thrashing by the world champions in their second league fixture of the 25th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh, Malaysia on Thursday. Australia, the eight-time winners of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, launched their campaign to reclaim the title they lost to New Zealand last year with a dominant performance against the Indian side seeking to provide exposure to several youngsters. Blake Govers (fifth minute), Jacob Whetton (13th), Eddie Okkenden (20th), Simon Orchard (25th) and Matt Ghodes (53rd) scored for Australia, who have brought virtually their full-strength squad to prepare for the Olympic Games. India's lone goal came through a penalty corner conversion by Rupinder Pal Singh in the eighth minute. This was Australia first outing in the round-robin league, while India prevailed 2-1 over Japan on Wednesday in an unimpressive campaign opener.
Sloppy defending cost India dearly as they conceded a late goal and went down 1-2 to higher-ranked New Zealand in their second league match on Day 2 of the 24th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh.
Germany might be the twice Olympic champions defending their title in men's field hockey but top-ranked Australia will be the team to beat at next month's Rio Games.
India's chances of advancing to the final suffered a blow after they went down 1-2 to defending champions New Zealand in their penultimate round-robin league match of the 25th Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament at Ipoh in Malaysia. Goals from Ken Russell (28th minute) and Nick Wilson (41st) clinched victory for defending champions New Zealand, who managed to weather the hot and humid conditions better than the Indians, whose only goal came from Mandeep Singh in the 36th minute. Wilson's match-winner resulted from a defensive error committed by the Indians as they failed to clear the ball properly in their own striking circle. New Zealand benefitted from the loose ball in the Indian circle in the 41st minute, when a reverse shot from the goal-line was padded by the Indian goalkeeper and deflected to the middle. Defender Harmanpreet failed to connect in his reflex attempt to push the ball out and Wilson had the easiest task of shooting into the goal for what turned out to be the match-winner for the Black Sticks
Australia retained the men's hockey World Cup crown after outplaying Olympic silver medallists The Netherlands 6-1 in the final at the Kyocera Stadium in The Hague on Sunday. Chris Cirielo's three penalty-corner conversions was the feature of the contest that saw Australia retain the trophy they won in New Delhi in 2010.
India's defence caved in under pressure as a rampaging Australia crushed them 6-2 in the last league fixture of the FIH World League semi-finals in Antwerp.
Australia's squad for the 12th hockey World Cup in New Delhi.
The leading scorers in the 12th Men's Hockey World Cup at the conclusion of the semi-finals.
India's shaky defence conceded a goal 15 seconds from the hooter to go down 2-3 against Belgium in their opening game of hockey World Cup at the Kyocera Stadium on Saturday.
A resurgent Indian hockey team, with its penetrative attack and solid defence, can actually challenge for the top spot in the Champions Trophy.
This past week, the Indian hockey team recorded a rare Test series win against world champions Australia. It was a significant achievement by the men in blue - hockey, not cricket - as it was for the first time in four years that India had beaten Australia.
India captain Sardar Singh fetched a poor return of US $58,000 while Germany's Moritz Fuerste drew the highest ever bid in the history of the Hockey India League auction, bought by Kalinga Lancers for a whopping US $1,05,000 in Delhi on Thursday.
The second edition of the Hockey India League gets underway on Saturday with Punjab Warriors taking on Delhi Waveriders in the opening match at the newly-built International Hockey Stadium in Mohali.
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