Skipper Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty stroke in the dying moments to lead India to a tight 3-2 win against New Zealand in their Paris Olympics-opener, here on Saturday.
Sam Lane (8th minute) and Simon Child (53rd) were the goal scorers for New Zealand, while Mandeep Singh (24th), Vivek Sagar Prasad (34th) and skipper Harmanpreet Singh (59th) struck for India.
India started on the offensive, with Harmanpreet and Abhsihek putting pressure on the New Zealand defence. New Zealand were initially content to sit back and defend but they stunned India by scoring the first goal of the match through Lane from a penalty corner.
Jolted by the early goal, India pressed hard and controlled the proceedings for most part of the match. The Indians utilised both flanks to build their attacks while the Black Sticks looked for counters.
Despite the win, India's chief coach Craig Fulton would be a little worried about the team's penalty corner conversion rate. The team earned five penalty corne
