England got off to a cracking start in their World Cup campaign in Monchengladbach today (Thursday). Playing India, who had given the Germans a run for their money the previous day, the early omens were not good. Failing to convert two penalty strokes in the first half, it was India who went into the break with a 29th minute goal from Shivendra Singh. England stepped up a gear in the second half but India held onto their lead until the 57th minute when James Tindall netted from a penalty corner. Minutes later England took the lead after a Richard Mantell penalty corner strike was saved but the deflection found the stick of his brother Simon, who slotted the ball home. Simon increased England’s lead with another penalty corner conversion, but the last ten minutes of the game saw India desperately trying to retake control of the match. The pressure paid off when Dilip Tirkey converted a penalty corner for India. Final score 3-2 to India.
In other matches, the Netherlands, who had been beaten by Korea yesterday, managed to overcome South Africa but in very unconvincing style, with the final score of 2-0. EHL umpire Andy Mair was one of the officials for this match. Australia, whose lack of form at the Champions Trophy surprised many, were the losing side against Spain. Pakistan overcame outsiders Japan with the highest scoring margin of the tournament so far, winning 4-0.
