Hockey, FIH Pro League, India vs Great Britain as it happened: Men’s and women’s teams lose to GB
A recap of the Indian men’s and women’s FIH Pro League matches against Great Britain in London.
Results: India women 2-3 Great Britain women; India men 2-3 Great Britain men
Follow Scroll.in’s coverage of Indian hockey here.
Hockey, FIH Pro League: With new coach, captain at helm, Indian women’s team look towards new era
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That’s it from us for this season of the FIH Pro League. Thank you!
The Indian men’s and women’s team end their respective FIH Pro League seasons with identical 2-3 losses to Great Britain.
The women’s team finish their season in eight place with eight points and secure their place in the Pro League for next season.
The men’s team will now fly back home to continue their preparation for the Paris Olympics starting next month.
FT, India 2-3 Great Britain, Harmanpreet Singh: In every game, we always learn. We played well today, created some good chances and converted them. It is a good lesson learnt before the Olympics. We trust ourselves and believe in the process.
FT, India 2-3 Great Britain: GB run down the clock at the corner and secure their sixth win of the season. India end their season with their fifth loss of the season. Craig Fulton’s side end their season with five wins, five losses and six draws to finish with 24 points.
Q4, India 2-3 Great Britain: Samford makes amends for his mistake as he brilliantly blocks Harmanpreet’s drag flick. Superb first rushing from Samford.
Q4, India 2-3 Great Britain: Less than 90 seconds left and India win a PC as Liam Samford is deemed to have deliberately played the ball behind goal. GB review unsuccessfully.
Q4, India 2-3 Great Britain: Sukhjeet puts the ball in goal but it won’t count! Shamsher takes down an aerial ball right outside the circle. He plays it forward to Manpreet. Draper comes in with a tackle. The whistle goes against India even as Sukhjeet fires the ball in. Manpreet reviews but the on-field call stays and India lose their review.
Q4, India 2-3 Great Britain: It’s all India at the moment but they have not been able to nail the final ball. To their credit, the GB defenders are reading the Indian passes well.
Q4, India 2-3 Great Britain: With just over five minutes left, India take off Pathak and bring on an extra outfield player.
Q4, India 2-3 Great Britain: Payne with a stunning save to deny Sukhjeet! He got the ball with his back to goal. Took a touch, swivelled and hammered it goal from close range. Payne instinctively stuck his hand out to pull off the save.
Q4, India 2-3 Great Britain: Great Britain take the lead! The pressure pays off for the hosts as they win possession in the Indian corner. Lee Morton lets one fly while off balance. Pathak cannot get a boot on the shot as Alan Forsyth tucks the ball in. A huge roar goes around the Lee Valley hockey stadium.
Q4, India 2-2 Great Britain: GB deploying a full press to good effect. India unable to play their way out of the back and needing to use speculative slaps from the deep.
Q4, India 2-2 Great Britain: India get us underway in the fourth quarter.
End of Q3, India 2-2 Great Britain: An entertaining quarter of hockey that. India took the lead for the first time in the match through Harmanpreet only for Waller to level for the hosts with a whopper of a goal.
Q3, India 2-2 Great Britain: Lovely turn from Raj Kumar Pal to get away from Tim Nurse which leaves the GB player lying on the turf holding his ankle. India continue to attack with Manpreet drawing a save from Payne. The play finally stops as Nurse gingerly walks away. Replays show that Pal trodded on Nurse’s ankle accidentally.
Q3, India 2-2 Great Britain: India come close! Superb aerial ball from Hardik from inside his own half to Sukhjeet Singh on the left inside the circle. He takes it down cleanly, nutmegs the defender and smacks it across the face of goal. Mandeep Singh is just a touch late in bringing his stick down as the ball flies behind.
Q3, India 2-2 Great Britain: GB equalise! The hosts respond immediately with Jack Waller with a powerful shot which bounces up off the turf and over Pathak into the roof of the net. It was hit with so much power that Pathak did not have the time to react.
Q3, India 2-1 Great Britain: India lead! Harmanpreet Singh makes no mistake from the spot and sends Payne the wrong way! The Indian captain is now the joint-highest goalscorer this season with 12 goals.
Q3, India 1-1 Great Britain: The ball is in the back of the goal from Mandeep Singh but the umpire has blown the whistle for a foul by Manpreet. The Indian reviews and there is push in the back of Manpreet by GB captain James Albery. Penalty stroke to India!
Q3, India 1-1 Great Britain: An even start to the quarter so far with neither team able to create anything substantial.
Q3, India 1-1 Great Britain: Krishan Pathak comes in for PR Sreejesh in goal for the third quarter as India get us started.
HT, India 1-1 Great Britain, Craig Fulton: It was just scoreboard pressure. It wasn’t the best start but we came back. Nice save from Sreejesh and that should give us momentum in the second half.
HT, India 1-1 Great Britain: End-to-end stuff as both teams go into the break level on 1-1. GB landed an early punch with Roper scoring in 38 seconds. GB had a couple of more chances to double their advantage but could not take them. India drew level in the second quarter through Sukhjeet following a quick break. Sreejesh then kept it 1-1 with a stunning save from the penalty spot.
Q2, India 1-1 Great Britain: What a save from Sreejesh! Wallace aims for the top left corner and he flicks the ball with immense power. Sreejesh is equal to the shot and makes an absolutely stunning save off his stick!
Q2, India 1-1 Great Britain: Penalty stroke for GB! Sanjay goes for an aerial ball aimed at Bandurak nearly hitting the GB player. A dicey call that. India don’t refer it though.
Q2, India 1-1 Great Britain: India down to 10 players for two minutes as Manpreet Singh gets a green card for a foul.
Q2, India 1-1 Great Britain: India are level! Lalit Kumar Upadhyay wins the ball and launches the counter with Gurjant on his left and Sukhjeet on his right. He plays it to Gurjant who reverse hits towards goal. Payne misses the ball and Sukhjeet dives in to deflect the ball into the roof of the goal. The ball looked like it would have missed the goal had it not been for Sukhjeet.
Q2, India 0-1 Great Britain: Bandurak’s drag flick is fired straight towards the right top corner. The ball goes away off Sanjay, who was on the line. The umpire gives a penalty stroke but Sanjay reviews it. And we see why he was quick to review as the ball came off his glove.
Q2, India 0-1 Great Britain: A strong start to the second quarter from GB as Jack Waller rides a couple of strong challenges into the circle and wins GB’s second PC.
End of Q1, India 0-1 Great Britain: The first quarter comes to an end with Great Britain ahead through Roper’s goal in the first minute. India came close to scoring a couple of times but were thwarted by GB.
Q1, India 0-1 Great Britain: Hardik Singh goes close! Superb tackle from Gurjant Singh to steal the ball high up the pitch from Jake Draper. Brendan Creed tries to recover the ball, it loops up in the air. Hardik brings it down quickly before firing a low drive which flies just past the post. A foot to the left and it could have caught Payne out.
Q1, India 0-1 Great Britain: Lovely stick work from Sukhjeet Singh as he dribbles his way past a couple of GB defenders. He finds the angle and shoots. Mandeep Singh stops it before trying from an acute angle but Payne saves it easily.
Q1, India 0-1 Great Britain: Nick Bandurak goes close! Wallace finds his way into the circle and shoots. The ball takes a deflection off an Indian stick and flies across Sreejesh. Bandurak was flying in at the far post hoping to get the deflection into goal but misses it.
Q1, India 0-1 Great Britain: A 60-yard aerial ball from the deep finds Raj Kumar Pal on the right of the GB circle. He fires in a low cross which smacks Ian Sloan on his leg for an Indian PC. Harmanpreet is unable to drag the ball. He still manages to take a shot at goal but Payne saves it.
Q1, India 0-1 Great Britain: Harmanpreet Singh’s drag flick is straight at Ollie Payne who makes the save.
Q1, India 0-1 Great Britain: India win their first PC of the match with Shamsher Singh beautifully taking down Jarmanpreet Singh’s aerial ball. The GB defender is not five meters away from Shamsher and the umpire has an easy decision to make.
Q1, India 0-1 Great Britain: GB absolutely flying now. They win the first PC of the match inside two minutes. Sam Ward’s drag flick is straight at PR Sreejesh who saves it. The rebound is attacked by Zach Wallace who aims for the roof of the net but Sreejesh reacts quickly to make another save.
Q1, India 0-1 Great Britain: Britain take the lead in 38 seconds! A quickly taken free hit from Lee Morton finds Phil Roper on the left. Roper makes his way to the circle and with no Indian defender closing in, reverse hits it into goal. Poor defending from India.
India vs Great Britain, Craig Fulton: It’s always nice to play GB in their home stadium. Yesterday was close. It could have gone either way. It’s one last push for us today.
India vs Great Britain: The Indian and Britain men’s teams will face off next in about 15 minutes time. Last week, GB ran away 3-1 winners thanks to Nick Bandurak’s brace. India coach Craig Fulton will be hoping for a much better performance this time around.
FT, India 2-3 Great Britain, Savita Punia: The eight matches were not like what we wanted. We improved. Today we were 1-0 down but came back to lead. Not happy with the loss. The last four matches in Belgium we were defensive. Coach said we need to play attacking hockey in the London and we did that. It means a lot [to stay in the Pro League]. We don’t get to play enough matches against the big teams. We have a big year coming in 2026 so staying in the Pro League will help us.
FT, India 2-3 Great Britain: India end their Pro League season with a heartbreaking defeat to Great Britain. They played so well for the majority of the match before Baldson’s quick-fire double snatching the victory for GB.
Q4, India 2-3 Great Britain: India now take off Savita Punia for an extra outfield player. Two calls go against India, including a video review and Harendra Singh gives a frustrated shake of the head.
Q4, India 2-3 Great Britain: Grace Baldson gives GB the lead! A silly foul from Toppo on Owsley earns GB another PC. Baldson goes for the other corner this time with Howard and Crackles looking to deflect it. Don’t think it took a touch of either of them. A one-two knockout punch from Baldson to floor India.
Q4, India 2-2 Great Britain: Great Britain are level! An absolutely powerful drag flick from Badlson and it evades everyone to smack the bottom corner!
Q4, India 2-1 Great Britain: With less than five minutes to go, GB take off goalkeeper Buchanan for an extra outfield player. And they immediately win another PC.
Q4, India 2-1 Great Britain: PC for GB for a dangerous ball off Neha. Costello’s drag flick is aimed towards Owsley who is hoping to deflect it into goal. However, first rusher Vaishnavi Phalke does well to block the shot.
Q4, India 2-1 Great Britain: India finally create something in the quarter. Baljeet and Lalremsiami with a quick one-two before the former scuffs a reverse hit under pressure. Katariya and Grace Baldson both go for it with the latter crashing into her goalkeeper. GB get the free hit out for Katariya’s push on Baldson.
Q4, India 2-1 Great Britain: A good test of the Indian defence as GB push for the equaliser with eight minutes left in the match. They have been calm under pressure and not being hurried into mistakes.
Q4, India 2-1 Great Britain: Lily Walker tries to fashion a couple of chances with balls from the right. Nikki Pradhan deals with the first chance. Howard is unable to sort out her feet as the second chance ends with a free hit to India. India doing well to soak up the pressure.
End of Q3, India 2-1 Great Britain: India living on the edge. Costello fires in a searching ball towards the circle. Martha Taylor flicks it goalwards where Rayer is waiting at the post. Vaishnavi Phalke is quick to react and intercept the ball. However, she cannot get far away as the ball is stolen from her. A GB player looks to keep the pressure on but Nikki Pradhan puts in a superb tackle to win the ball. India keep the ball to run down the clock on the third quarter.
Q3, India 2-1 Great Britain: Lovely run by Neha down the left channel. Rides multiple challenges on her way to the circle but finally sees the ball stolen by her.
Q3, India 2-1 Great Britain: GB pressing high up and bothering the Indian defenders. The hosts have a couple of big chances but India keep them away. Udita made a vital tackle to deny Watson. A couple of moves later, Savita Punia forces Howard to miss a decent chance at the post. Meanwhile, Toppo is off the field with a possible head injury after Fiona Crackles accidentally hit her with her shoulder.
Q3, India 2-1 Great Britain: India score almost immediately! GB lose possession immediately after the restart. A couple of defence-splitting passes later, Mumtaz Khan plays the ball to an unmarked Vandana Katariya on the left. The pass is a bit quick which forced Katariya to stretch further away and narrow the angle. She still has time and space to set herself up and fires the ball powerfully aiming for the opposite corner of goal. Buchanan instinctively puts out her glove to make a superb save.
HT, India 2-1 Great Britain, India assistant coach Dave Smolenaars: We know GB play a high tempo game but we managed to get back and score. We need to manage the tempo in the second half and get the result.
HT, India 2-1 Great Britain: India end the half on a very good note. Some lovely inter-play between Sunelita Toppo and Navneet Kaur as India keep possession. GB defending deep allowing India to pick their passes. And the hooter goes off to mark the end of the half.
Q2, India 2-1 Great Britain: Udita with a poor tackle in the circle. GB review asking for deliberate foul for penalty stroke. The TV umpire disagrees and only gives GB a PC. Not a good drag flick from Costello as India win a free hit out.
Q2, India 2-1 Great Britain: India take the lead! Baljeet Kaur lets one fly with a venomous reverse hit. Buchanan’s vision is blocked by Navneet Kaur and GB defender Sarah Jones and the ball is past her before she could react. The umpire reviews for a back stick but it is a clean shot. And the slow-mo replays show that the final touch came off Navneet Kaur. A nice poacher’s goal from the vice-captain which made it difficult for Buchanan to save.
Q2, India 1-1 Great Britain: Good spell of play from India as they win another PC. Deepika goes low and hard. Buchanan makes a good save but the ball loops up high and it will be a PC re-awarded to India. This time the injection is not trapped cleanly by Lalremsiami. Navneet Kaur tries to still create something but only wins a long corner.
Q2, India 1-1 Great Britain: Second PC of the match for India. Deepika has a crack at goal but Isabelle Petter, the first rusher, blocks it well.
Q2, India 1-1 Great Britain: First green card of the match goes to Tess Howard who pushes the ball away after the whistle had gone India’s way for a foul.
Q2, India 1-1 Great Britain: Owsley has the ball in the back of goal but it won’t count! Howard barged into Nikki Pradhan after moving the ball to Howard and the umpire blew the whistle immediately.
Q2, India 1-1 Great Britain: GB win possession after the restart quickly and Watson leads the counter. She sprints down the middle and at the edge of the circle, plays the ball to Sophie Hamilton. However, the GB player was shielding the ball illegally and India get the free hit.
End of Q1, India 1-1 Great Britain: India nearly take the lead right at the end of the quarter. Tete wins a PC. The injection goes to Navneet who reverses it to Deepika who flicks it back to Navneet. She shoots, the ball loops up off a GB stick. Udita is the quickest to react and smacks the ball on the volley but it flies just past the post. A nicely executed PC routine.
Q1, India 1-1 Great Britain: India equalise! Superb goal. Navneet Kaur puts the ball onto Neha’s path on the right channel. She lifts her head up and shoots at goal. Lalremsiami is at the far post and pokes the ball beyond Buchanan into goal.
Q1, India 0-1 Great Britain: India try to create something but the final ball is once again intercepted by GB, Costello this time. A minute later, Tete sprints down the left and fires the ball goalwards. Goalkeeper Jess Buchanan parries it and Costello plays the ball away to safet
Q1, India 0-1 Great Britain: After a sustained spell of GB possession, India finally have control of the ball. They ping the ball from one wing to another. The ball is played towards Mumtaz Khan but she is beaten to the ball by Elizabeth Neal who puts in a good tackle from behind.
Q1, India 0-1 Great Britain: The injection is to Amy Costello on the second battery. It is fizzed through towards the corner but Ishika is at hand to block it. GB cannot get the second shot away and India then win a free hit out.
Q1, India 0-1 Great Britain: Ishika Chaudhary with a poor tackle on Lily Owsley which sees the Indian lose her stick and Owsley on the turf. First penalty corner of the match. Grace Balsdon’s drag flick is blocked by first rusher Salima Tete. India counter and reach almost the GB 23m line before the umpire calls it back for another PC. Poor communication between the two umpires.
Q1, India 0-1 Great Britain: Ishika Chaudhary with a poor tackle on Lily Owsley which sees the Indian lose her stick and Owsley on the turf. First penalty corner of the match. Grace Balsdon’s drag flick is blocked by first rusher Salima Tete. India counter and reach almost the GB 23m line before the umpire calls it back for another PC. Poor communication between the two umpires.
Q1, India 0-1 Great Britain: GB take the lead! They counter with Tessa Howard spotting Watson unmarked in the circle and finds her. Watson’s first touch is awkward and takes her to her reverse stick. However, she has the time and space to set herself up and slot the ball through Savita’s legs into the back of goal.
Q1, India 0-0 Great Britain: GB get the first big chance of the match. Elena Rayer moves along the baseline and shoots. The shot is intercepted with the loose ball going to Charlotte Watson. She looks to shoot but hits her own foot.
Q1, India 0-0 Great Britain: India get us started but Navneet Kaur looses possession with a misplaced pass. Hope that’s just a minor blip today from the vice-captain.
India vs Great Britain: For the last time this season, Salima Tete leads India out. As Harendra Singh said, the aim today is to end the a difficult season on a winning note. India yet to win under their new coach and are winless since the Pro League matches in Odisha earlier this year.
India vs Great Britain, Harendra Singh: I think it was what we wanted. We gave two soft PCs and that cost us. I always say, if the end is well, everything is well. I’d like to end with a good result today.
Hello and welcome to Scroll’s coverage of the 2023-24 FIH Pro League matches in London, England.
It is the final match day of the 2023-24 FIH Pro League season for the Indian men’s and women’s teams. It has been a tough season for both teams with the women surviving being relegated. The men have had a better outing with the defence shining.
Today both teams will be looking to end their season with wins against hosts Great Britain.
Our starting XI are ready for a thrilling encounter ! Let's go, Team India! 🇮🇳🏑
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) June 9, 2024
Watch the match live on @jiocinema and @sports18 📺#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #FIHProLeague #IndiaWomensTeam
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Indian women’s squad
Goalkeepers: Savita Punia, Bichu Devi Kharibam
Defenders: Nikki Pradhan, Udita Duhan, Ishika Chaudhary, Monika, Jyoti Chhatri, Mahima Chaudhary
Midfielders: Salima Tete (Captain), Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke, Navneet Kaur (Vice captain), Neha Goyal, Jyoti, Baljeet Kaur, Manisha Chauhan, Lalremsiami
Forwards: Mumtaz Khan, Sangita Kumari, Deepika, Sharmila Devi, Preeti Dubey, Vandana Katariya, Sunelita Toppo, Deepika Soreng
Indian men’s squad
Goalkeepers: Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran, Krishan Bahadur Pathak
Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Jugraj Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Sanjay, Vishnukant Singh
Midfielders: Hardik Singh (vice captain), Vivek Sagar Prasad, Manpreet Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Rajkumar Pal, Mohammed Raheel Mouseen
Forwards: Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek, Akashdeep Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Boby Singh Dhami