Indian men’s hockey team did wonders, defeated France 5-4 in the five-nation tournament.

With two goals each from captain Harmanpreet Singh and Jugraj Singh, the Indian men’s hockey team registered a consolation win by defeating France 5-4 in its fourth and final match of the five-nation tournament here on Wednesday.

Vivek Sagar Prasad (16th minute) scored the first goal for India in the match. Jugraj scored goals for the team in the 20th and 60th minutes while Harmanpreet scored in the 25th and 56th minutes. The performance of the Indian team, which is ranked third in the world ranking, was very poor in this tournament. The team had to face defeat in the first three matches against Spain (0-1), Belgium (2-7) and Germany (2-3).

The Indian team also gave a tough competition to the tournament’s low-ranked team France (ranked ninth in the world ranking). Lucas Montecott gave France the lead in the 11th minute of the match by converting a penalty corner. India equalized at the beginning of the second quarter with Vivek’s field goal. After this, Jugraj gave India the lead by converting a penalty corner while Harmanpreet doubled the lead through another penalty corner.

France then got a penalty stroke and Etienne Tinevage (28th) converted it without making any mistake. At the time of intermission the Indian team was leading 3-2. France achieved a 3-3 tie at the end of the third quarter with a field goal by Gaspard Baumgarten (43rd minute). In the last quarter of the match, both the teams tried to breach each other’s defense to take the lead. Tinves put France ahead 4–3 with his second from a penalty corner in the 53rd minute of the match.

However, captain Harmanpreet did not let the pressure on the team prevail by converting the penalty corner after three minutes and equalizing the score. In the last minute of the match, Jugraj converted another penalty to put the Indians ahead 5-4.