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India was again up against the challenge of the Netherlands at Rotterdam on June 19, Sunday. In their previous face-off a day before, the Dutch team was terrific with their composure to win the shootout 4-1 after the match was ended as a draw.
In the first minute of the game, young forward Abhishek stunned the Netherlands team to breach their defense and score a goal with his lovely stick work.
Soon, the powerful shot from Jansen was placed between Sreejesh and the post defender came in a penalty corner, and the Netherlands scored an equalizer goal to make it 1-1.
In the second quarter, Harmanpreet Singh missed the penalty strike, which certainly put pressure on the Indian team.
In the 44th minute of the game, Croon Jorrit ran in and deflected the ball right in front of the goal to help the Dutch team to get a lead of 2-1.
With 12 minutes and 30 seconds remaining in the game, India got a penalty corner. Harmanpreet was terrific with his aerial shot, but the opposition goalkeeper saved it in an emphatic manner.
Two minutes later, goalkeeper PR Sreejesh conceded a penalty corner to the Dutch team, which was stopped by the Indian defenders.
In the end, both the teams failed to convert the penalty corner chances into a goal, and the final score line was read as 2-1. The Indian team stayed third in the points table with 30 points and won the bronze medal. On the other hand, Belgium settled for silver with 35 points.
The Netherlands team needed three points in this game to be crowned champions for the first time, and they certainly have achieved their set objectives. The Dutch team will remain number one, irrespective of their last two games against Spain next week.