FIH Hockey Pro League: Harmanpreet Singh shines as India put on a skillful, controlled show in season-opener to beat Spain | Hockey News

The sly feints were the first hint that India were ‘in the mood’. The cute dinks over the stick were further evidence of it. The drag-flickers nutmegging goalies, defenders making stealing an artform and players putting their bodies in the line to stop the ball from flying into the net only affirmed that India, the repeat offenders in making low-energy starts, meant business.There were goals. Four of them, including a ridiculous no-look slap-hit Lalit Upadhyay. But it’s the little tricks and flicks; a sneaky run here, a sharp save there that made the team a delight to watch in their FIH Pro League season-opener against Spain at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
Spain may not inspire the same level of dread among the Indian players as some of the other teams. But they are no pushovers either. Which makes the 4-1 win all the more impressive.

Power in every stroke! 🇮🇳🏑
India conquer Spain with a stellar performance, securing a well-deserved victory.
India 🇮🇳 4 – Spain 🇪🇸 1
Goal Scorers:7′(PC) 20′(PS) Singh Harmanpreet24′ Singh Jugraj (PC)50′ Upadhyay Lalit Kumar
34′ Miralles Marc (PS)#HockeyIndia… pic.twitter.com/fHNWap4i6A
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) February 10, 2024
It was very close to a perfect performance. The goalkeepers – Krishan Pathak and PR Sreejesh – were once again brilliant. The penalty corner defence was watertight. There were field goals and goals from drag-flicks.
The corner conversion rate – two out of seven on Saturday – remains a thorny issue; so do disciplinary issues – a yellow card at the end leading to a 10-minute suspension, though harmless, could have been avoided.
Bigger, tougher challenges will follow. The Netherlands on Sunday and Australia later in the week will test India on these points and how they respond against the sides they have struggled to beat on a big stage will be interesting to see.
But the team that bombed spectacularly around this time last year has rebounded in fine fashion. They’ve resurrected at the same place – the Kalinga Stadium – where they were buried. The shock defeat to New Zealand at the World Cup brought the high-flying Tokyo Olympics bronze medalls crashing down to earth.
It was one of those lless, no-energy performances that spelt doom. The same players are once again driving India’s hopes heading into the Paris Olympics.
Harmanpreet Singh, the captain and the drag-flicker who cut a forlorn figure back then, found his range and scored from two virtually unstoppable shots, one a penalty corner in the 7th minute and a stroke in the 20th.

A moment of honor and pride! 🏑🇮🇳
Hockey India President, Dr. Dilip Tirkey, and Secretary General, Shri Bhola Nath Singh, commend Manpreet Singh for his outstanding 350 caps in India’s FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24 match against Spain.
In the esteemed company of Shri Sekar J… pic.twitter.com/tziOiuxyEo
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) February 10, 2024
Indeed, Harmanpreet has consently been among the goals at the Asian Champions Trophy and Asian Games. But scoring against world hockey’s second-tier teams is one thing compared to some of the well-drilled units like Spain. Can he now keep up the same conversion rate against Australia, who are in India’s group in Paris?
Craig Fulton, wanting to leave nothing to chance, is preparing a Plan B, and C, in case his go-to set-piece special fires blanks. Jugraj Singh unleashed such a fierce flick that the ball went through the legs of the Spanish goalkeeper and he could do nothing about it. Jugraj had a couple of other opportunities but both flew past the post.
Fulton didn’t use Sanjay and Araijeet Hundal much for drag flicks, perhaps they’ll get their chances going forward in the mini-tournament. But Hundal was still doing a lot in the final third, where India’s attackers constantly looked threatening.
Chief among them, once again, was vice-captain Hardik Singh. It was Hardik’s snaking run through the centre of the field, carrying the ball and beating defenders with a 20-odd metre run, that led to India’s first goal.

Lalit rounded off India’s dominance in their #FIHProLeague 2023-24 season opener with a superb finish.
India defeats Spain 4-1 in their first game of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023-24. @TheHockeyIndia pic.twitter.com/tp9dhOYEA0
— International Hockey Federation (@FIH_Hockey) February 10, 2024
His command in the midfield ensured that even when India were defending – for a brief period in the third quarter where Fulton was determined not to allow Spain a chance to make a last-quarter comeback – the attacking threat remained through counters.
It was one such counterattack that led to the fourth goal, with Sukhjeet Singh breaking forward from the left flank in the 50th minute and passing the ball to Upadhyay in the Spanish ‘D’. Upadhyay had his back facing the goal when the ball was played towards him. But he showed true strikers’ instinct, knowing exactly where the goal was, and hit the ball first-time into the ground and beat the goalie at the near post.
India could have scored a couple more and even though they had four, it wasn’t an all-out attacking show. It was more controlled and measured, erring as much on the side of caution as creative freedom. That’s how, after all, Fulton wants this team to play.
Former captain Manpreet Singh was in a defensive role, forming a deadly partnership with Harmanpreet. Jugraj was there to clean up whatever mess his teammates left inside the ‘D’ and though Spain frequently sliced open the left of India’s defence, the home team had enough bodies at the back to choke them for space.
And on the rare occasion when Spain did get past the defence, they couldn’t beat Pathak and Sreejesh, who even pulled off an incredible double save in the second quarter.
The only goal India conceded came from a penalty stroke following a defensive error. But on a night when India brought on their A game, the slip-up did not dampen anyone’s mood – in the stands and on the field.
Score: India 4 (Harmanpreet Singh 7’, 20’; Jugraj Singh 24’; Lalit Upadhyay 50’) beat Spain 1 (Marc Miralles 34’)