Indian men look to continue winning momentum against Germany in FIH Pro League

Bhubaneswar, Feb 17 (PTI) Their campaign back on track after a jittery start, India will look to continue the winning momentum when they take on Paris Olympics silver medallist Germany in their next men’s FIH Pro League match here on Tuesday.

India had a woeful start to their home leg matches of the Pro League, losing 1-3 to Spain in their opener.

But the hosts bounced back strongly to tame Spain 2-0 in the return match on Sunday.

With three points from two games, India are currently sitting in eighth place in the standings and will be desperate to climb up the table.

After a relatively off day on Saturday, the Indians looked a completely different side on Sunday, dominating for most part of the match and scoring two field goals through Mandeep Singh (32nd minute) and Dilpreet Singh (39th) to pocket all three points.

While the strikers shone bright in the second game, India’s chief coach Craig Fulton would be a bit concerned about penalty corner conversions.

Despite winning seven penalty corners across their two games, India failed to convert a single chance.

In the absence of India captain Harmanpreet Singh, who was rested for the second match, Hockey India League star performer Jugraj Singh cut a sorry figure from set pieces.

The forwardline comprising Dilpreet , Mandeep and Sukhjeet Singh have each netted a goal for India so far in the tournament and will be looking to add to their tally against Germany.

The Indian defence produced a much-better display in the second game, and were able to absorb pressure from the Spanish strikers.

Germany, who will be playing their first match of the India leg, are placed just above India in seventh place with four points from as many games and will be determined to turn their fortunes around.

Although Germany have won only one match in the tournament so far, their attack has been spearheaded by Raphael Hartkopf, Gonzalo Peillat, and Thies Prinz, who have scored two goals each.

Germany will aim to turn around their struggling campaign and secure vital points.

The two sides last met during a two-match Test series in New Delhi in October 2024, where Germany won the first game 2-0, but India bounced back in the second with a thrilling 5-3 victory.

However, Germany went on to claim the series through a shootout win.

Speaking on the upcoming matches, Harmanpreet said, “We are looking forward to our games against Germany. They are a quality team, and we know we need to bring our best performance to the field.

“After the positive result against Spain, our confidence is high, but we know there’s still work to be done. One of our main focuses is improving our penalty corner conversion, as it’s crucial to make the most of those opportunities in tight matches.”

“The team is motivated and ready to build on the momentum from our last game. We’ve learned from both the matches, and we’re determined to bring our best performance to the field,” he added.