India have set up a mouth-watering clash against Australia in the final of the Champions Trophy after playing out a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands in their final round-robin game on Saturday.
India clinched its spot for the gold-medal match with a hard-fought draw against the hosts in front of a capacity crowd in Breda.
The Men in Blue entered the contest knowing that a point against the home favourites would be good enough to see them into the final. And they did not disappoint.
Mandeep Singh (47th minute) scored for the Men in Blue, while Thiery Brinkmann (55th) scored for the third-placed Netherlands. As a result, India and the Netherlands ended the round-robin stage with eight and seven points, respectively.
India and Australia will now look to come out on top in the showpiece final on Sunday.
While Australia will be looking to win the Champions Trophy for the 15th time, India will be eyeing their maiden title.
The Men in Blue will have their task cut out against Australia in the title-decider. The team from Down Under have already defeated India once in the competition and will enter the game as the favourites. However, considering India’s form, one cannot count them out.
Here we take a look at how both the teams made it to the final:
India’s Road to final:
India made it to the final with some stunning displays, as they won 2, drew 2 and lost 1 of the five round-robin games. They began the campaign by thrashing arch-rivals, Pakistan.
Goals from Ramandeep, Dilpreet, Mandeeplastand Lalit helped the Indian team blank Pakistan 4-0. In the following game, they beat reigning Olympics champions, Argentina 2-1.
Wishing @TheHockeyIndia team all the best for tomorrows final against Australia in Champions Trophy. The whole team played brilliantly to tie the match 1-1 against Netherlands to finish 2nd in the tournament.
— RajyavardhanRathore (@Ra_THORe) June 30, 2018
Sreejesh & Co.’s winning run then came to an end when they took on Australia. The Indian team fought hard against their fancied opponents but eventually lost 2-3. Two 1-1 draws against Belgium and Netherlands then sealed a spot in the final for the Men in Blue.
Australia’s road to final:
Australia are entering the final game with three wins, one loss and a draw. They began their campaign with an entertaining 3-3 draw with Belgium. In the following game, they registered their first victory with a 2-1 win over Pakistan before beating India 3-2.
A 3-1 win over the Netherlands then sealed their spot in the finals for Australia. They, however, lost their final round-robin game, going down 2-3 to Argentina.