Hockey: Indian Men's team settle for 2-2 draw against Germany

India settled for a 2-2 draw against Germany in a high voltage encounter on Saturday here at the 3 Nations Invitational Tournament. Mandeep Singh and Sardar Singh scored for India, while Niklas Wellen scored Germany's first goal and Tobias Hauke scored the equaliser.

India's goalkeeper Vikas Dahiya was kept busy in the first quarter with Germany winning their first PC in the fourth minute, but he denied an early lead to the Germans.

In the 12th minute of the match, India came close to taking a 1-0 lead. Soon after, Germany found success when Niklas Wellen perfectly deflected the ball with a good assist by his fellow compatriot to take a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.

In the second quarter, an in-form Wellen came close to scoring his second goal of the match. It was an open goal with no Indian defender posing a threat, but his flick was off-target with the ball going over the post.

The third quarter, however, belonged to India as they made great amends to get ahead of Germany. First, it was India's young sensation Mandeep Singh who struck gold with an impressive strike in the circle to give India the equaliser in the 45th minute. Soon after, Sardar Singh wielded magic with inspiring dribbling abilities to carry the ball into the circle and successfully take a shot on goal.

With a crucial 2-1 lead, India pushed hard to stay ahead of Germany, but seven minutes into the fourth quarter Germany equalised.

India will play their next match on June 5 against Belgium at 6.30 p.m. IST.