How India’s ‘Third Quarter Mayhem’ Knocked the Stuffing Out of Germany

One is not sure of what the Indian men’s hockey team had the half-time break – they must have had ‘something special’ or was it the motivational pep talk of chief coach Craig Fulton that did the trick? – whatever be it, the Blueshirts appeared fired-up in the second half – it won’t be wrong to say it was ‘third quarter mayhem’ that was on display at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi.

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Germany wore a formidable look with the inclusion of defender Tom Grambusch and goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneburg (alongside Martin Zwicker, Lukas Windfeder, Teo Hinrichs, Thies Prinz and Malte Hellwig, making it a side that featured seven members of the 2024 Paris Olympic squad.

The ‘third quarter mayhem’ was initiated by comeback lad Shilanand Lakra, who steamed in from the left and unveiled a precise backhander for Sukhjeet Singh to make the simplest of flicks to trigger wild celebrations – why that goal was crucial? Simply because India were kept out of the contest for the first ten minutes of play by Germany, who drew first blood in the 7th minute via Elian Mazkour and although the hosts kept throwing punches at the German defence, the Olympic silver medallists were putting up a sturdy defensive face.

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The ‘third quarter mayhem’ reached its peak when skipper Harmanpreet Singh came to the party, rifling home a drag-flick to the left top corner that brooked no answer from Jean-Paul Danneburg – the ‘Sarpanch Sahab’ scored another off a shortie a minute later again beating Jean-Paul Danneburg to his left – young Vishnukant Singh fed a superb through ball for Abhishek, who initially took his time to control before smacking it home just at the stroke of the 3rd quarter hooter. The script has truly changed as India pumped in four goals in eleven minutes.

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It was the ‘third quarter mayhem’ that knocked the stuffing out of Germany, who turned more nervy in front of the boisterous home crowd, and at time, found it hard to retain possession. Sukhjeet Singh added another with a fine solo effort sprawling even while executing a tomahawke – the 5-1 scoreline could have been a few more.

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Germany did pull off two solace goals but it was too little, too late as India had written winning chapter much before the closing stages of the match. This was India’s 27th win over the Honamas in 111 encounters – the hosts squared the two Test rubber but lost the trophy going down in the shootout 1-3.