GOLD COAST: As the fans expected, the India vs Pakistan hockey opener at the 2018 Commonwealth Games was no less than a high-voltage drama and in the concluding moments it became a nail-biter Pakistan in the second half scored two dramatic goals from a point when they trailing 0-2 against India.
All the excitement came down to the last seven seconds as the Indian hockey conceded late goals that left them with a disappointing 2-2 draw against Pakistan in its Commonwealth Games opener in Gold Coast on Saturday.
For India, Dilpreet Singh (13th minute), Harmanpreet Singh (19th minute) did the scoring, while Pakistan’s goals came from Mohammed Irfan Junior (38th minute) and Mubashar Ali (59th minute).
It was touted as the blockbuster clash of the preliminary stage and the turnout, at least, lived up to the hype. The diaspora of both the countries was out in good numbers but adding to the fervour were the Australian fans, who showed up to just soak in the excitement of an Indo-Pak clash.
On the field, India dominated despite being a bit sloppy themselves. Forward Dilpreet opened the scoring in the first quarter, helping the last edition silver-medallists end the first 15 minutes with a 1-0 lead.
In the second quarter, Harmanpreet Singh converted the second of the two penalty corner chances he got to put India in control. Pakistan managed to earn a couple of penalty corners of their own.
