India outclassed hosts New Zealand 3-1 in the third match of the Four Nations Invitational hockey tournament on Saturday to set up their summit clash against Olympic silver medallist Belgium on Saturday.
India scored through Harmanpreet Singh, Dilpreet Singh and Mandeep Singh while Kane Russell was the lone scorer for New Zealand. Belgium, on the other hand, sealed their berth after beating Japan 4-1.
New Zealand needed at least a draw to progress to the summit clash but World No.6 India proved too hot to handle. India went ahead in the second minute after the pushback via Harmanpreet who converted a penalty corner in the beginning of the first quarter. Dilpreet (21′) then sliced open their defence to double India’s lead in the second quarter.
Trailing 0-2 after the first half, New Zealand improved their game after the change of ends. They tried breaking through a stubborn Indian defence but were denied.
However, Russell (45′) found an opening in the third quarter when he struck home through a penalty corner. New Zealand had cut down India’s lead to just one goal.
However, striker Mandeep ended Black Sticks’ hopes of a late comeback when he sounded the board in the 47th minute with India recording their second victory in three games.
Hockey World League (HWL) bronze medallists India began the tournament with a 6-0 thrashing of Japan on Wednesday.
However, they went down 0-2 to world no.3 Belgium in their second game on Thursday before sealing the final spot by beating the hosts on Saturday.