India Under-18 Men’s Hockey Team played a 3-3 draw against Australia in the fourth and final match of the series at the Udhav Das Mehta (Bhai Ji) Central SAI Centre in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, yesterday. 

 

With this, Indian men finish the four-match series against Australia with one win, two draws, and one loss. In the last match of the series, India started strongly and scored two early goals, but Australia fought back and equalised in the second quarter. After a closely fought third quarter, India regained the lead with a field goal. 

 

However, Australia found another equaliser late in the game as scored a field goal with just three minutes remaining. For India, captain Ketan Kushwaha, Karan Gautam and Ben Siddharth netted goals.

 

Earlier in the day, the India Under-18 Women’s Hockey Team produced a dominant display to defeat the Australia Under-18 Women’s Team 4-1 in the fourth and final match of the series at the same venue. Irrespective of the win, Australia won the four-match series 4-1.

 

 In the fourth match, Australia took the lead early in the first quarter, but Indian captain Sweety Kujur responded quickly, scoring the equaliser before the end of the opening quarter. 

 

The hosts continued their momentum when Diya scored a goal in the second quarter and took the lead to give India a 2-1 advantage heading into halftime.

 

India maintained control in the second half and extended their lead in the third quarter through Priyanka Minz, while Nausheen Naz added another goal in the final quarter to cap off a dominant win for the hosts.