Bhubaneswar: India suffered a heavy 8-0 defeat at the hands of Argentina in Rourkela on Thursday in FIH Hockey Pro League action, with Tomas Domene scoring an impressive four goals to seal the rout.
The hosts struggled to contain the Argentine attack from the start. Late in the opening quarter, India were awarded a penalty stroke, but Harmanpreet Singh’s attempt was brilliantly saved by Argentina goalkeeper Tomas Santiago.
A subsequent re-award, following a review that ruled the keeper had moved early, was also stopped, compounding India’s early frustration. Almost immediately, Argentina struck at the other end as Tomas Ruiz’s first-touch effort found the top corner, giving the visitors the lead.
Domene then converted a penalty corner variation after initially misfiring, putting Argentina 2-0 ahead at the first break.
The onslaught continued early in the second quarter. Domene scored again in the 20th minute, and a defensive error allowed Lucio Mendez to score a third. Ignacio Ibarra then added a fourth from a sharp-angle strike inside the circle.
Domene completed his hat-trick in the 26th minute after another Indian defensive lapse. Nicolas Della Torre further extended the lead with a penalty corner strike just before halftime, leaving India trailing 7-0 at the break.
India showed greater composure in the second half, slowing the game down and managing to prevent further damage for most of the period. However, in the final minute, Domene struck once more to complete his four-goal haul, finalizing the score at 8-0, fih.hockey reported.
Meanwhile, world champions Germany faced another setback as they were outplayed 3-0 by Australia, who now have two wins from two matches in the FIH Hockey Pro League season.
