Hockey Pro League: With Harmanpreet Singh and Hardik Singh out injured, India lose to Germany 1-4
India were dealt a blow even before they stepped on the field to face Germany in the FIH Pro League. Captain Harmanpreet Singh, India’s MVP at the Olympics last year, was ruled out with a wrist injury. And his deputy Hardik Singh, who arguably played the finest match of his career in the semifinal against Germany in Paris, too joined Harmanpreet in the stands due to fitness issues.
With them in the Indian team, Germany had to huff and puff their way to a win on a hot Parisien day. Without the influential duo, the Olympic silver medallists steamrolled India, who suffered their heaviest defeat to Germany in almost a decade, losing 1-4.
Florian Sperling (7’), Thies Prinz (14’), Michael Struthoff (48’) and Raphael Hartkopf (55’) scored for Germany while Gurjant Singh (13’) was on target for India.
It was another game where India’s penalty corners attack drew a blank — something coach Craig Fulton said was ‘not normal’ and he was ‘not happy’ about. But the story tonight wasn’t just about the flicks flying wide or being saved. Fulton said ‘rhythm’ was one of the issues but on Tuesday, India seemed to miss Hardik’s precise, speedy injections as close to a dozen penalty corners they earned counted for nothing.
Hardik’s contribution, of course, goes much beyond just injections. He binds the team together, makes them tick and brings energy in the play that few others can match. Without him, India looked listless — just like in the 2023 World Cup knockout match against New Zealand.
Manpreet Singh tried to fill in but with the rest having an off day, the former captain was left with too much to do by himself.
Fulton said Harmanpreet and Hardik were rested as a precaution and are likely to start against Germany on Wednesday as the two sides go head to head for one last time this season.