Captain Harmanpreet joined the party and scored a goal in the 11th minute. In this way, India took a 2-0 lead in the first quarter.
India defeated Wales 3-1, Harmanpreet strikes double goals: The Indian Men’s Hockey Team kicked off their World Cup 2026 campaign with a bang. The Indian team defeated Wales 3-1 in their opening Pool D match at the Wagener stadium on Saturday.
It was a Pool-D match in which India dominated from the beginning. In the 8th minute of the first quarter, Sanjay scored the first goal for Team India. After this, captain Harmanpreet joined the party and scored a goal in the 11th minute. In this way, India took a 2-0 lead in the first quarter. After this, India got a penalty corner.
No goals were scored in the second quarter. However, India got a penalty corner during this time. In the third quarter, captain Harmanpreet scored his second and team’s third goal in the 43rd minute.
After the end of three quarters, Team India had gained a lead of 3-0. Wales had to score 4 goals in the last quarter(15 minutes ) to win. But it seemed impossible on the part of Wales until the end of the match. Sam Welsh scored the only goal in the fourth quarter for Wales in the 56th minute. In this way, India won the match by scoring 3-1 at full time.
India will play matches against England on August 17 and Pakistan on August 19 in Group-D. This first victory in the World Cup tournament has raised the spirits of the Indian team.
ALSO READ: VVS Laxman soon to get new responsibilities: BCCI
