Australia end Indian hopes

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With a place in the final at stake, Australia opened the scoring with a splendid goal by Sharp in the sixth minute.

India’s S.V. Sunil (left) vies for the ball with Australia defenders in their Champions Trophy match in Breda on Wednesday. India lost 2-3.

New Delhi: India fought valiantly but went down 2-3 to world champions Australia, their first defeat in the FIH Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Breda, the Netherlands, on Wednesday.

India had earlier beaten Pakistan and Argentina in their opening two matches/ Australia produced their best show of the tournament and scored through Lachlan Sharp (6th minute), Tom Craig (15th) and Trent Mitton (33rd) to secure full points. India, however, did not give up and fought till the end scoring through Varun Kumar (10th) and Harmanpreet Singh (58th), producing a nail-biting finish. The loss meant India slumped to third place in the standings with six points from two wins behind hosts the Netherlands (six points), while Australia climbed to the top with seven points from three games.

With a place in the final at stake, Australia opened the scoring with a splendid goal by Sharp in the sixth minute. India were quick to respond, Varun equalising four minutes later.

Australia however ended the quarter one goal up as Craig converted a penalty corner and scored their third goal through Mitton.

India made a comeback with just two minutes left for the hooter when Harmanpreet converted India’s eighth penalty corner to narrow the lead to 2-3.

India next play Belgium on Thursday

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