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The Indian Men's Hockey Team defeated France 4-0 in a friendly match during their South Africa tour on Monday (January 22) at the WP Cricket Club.
The Men in Blue's lineup consisted of captain Harmanpreet Singh, goalkeeper Pawan Malik, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Sumit, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Hardik Singh, Shamsher Singh, Abhishek, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, and Gurjant Singh.
The substitutes included goalkeeper Sreejesh PR, Sanjay, Jugraj Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Rabchandra Singh Morangthem, Sukhjeet Singh, and Araijeet Singh Hundal.
Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh scored a brace, while vice-captain Hardik Singh and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay found the back of the net once each.
Harmanpreet Singh's goals came off penalty corners. He opened the scoring in the 13th minute and doubled the Indian side's lead in the 26th minute, making it 2-0 at half-time.
Both teams failed to score goals in the third quarter, resulting in India holding a two-goal lead in the friendly match. In the 42nd minute, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay converted a penalty corner to extend India's lead.
Vice-captain Hardik Singh scored a goal in the 49th minute to guide India to a convincing 4-0 victory against France as they begin their South Africa tour.
The Indian Hockey Team will play a friendly match against France on January 24. They will take on hosts South Africa on January 26 and lock horns with the Netherlands on January 28 in a friendly match.
South Africa Tour Preparation Series: Full List of Fixtures & Match Timings (All Timings in IST)
Saturday, January 20
Friendly - South Africa vs France, 7:30 pm
Monday, January 22
Friendly - India vs France, 2:30 pm
Only Test - South Africa vs Netherlands, 11:15 pm
Wednesday, January 24
Friendly - India vs France, 2:30 pm
Friday, January 26
Friendly - Netherlands vs France, 8:00 pm
Only Test - South Africa vs India, 9:30 pm
Sunday, January 28
Friendly - Netherlands vs India, 2:00 pm
Friendly - South Africa vs France, 9:00 pm
