Young striker Nikkin Thimmaiah scored a hat-trick as India produced their best performance of the tournament to stun world champions and title holders Australia 4-2 and secure a place in third and fourth place play-off in the Azlan Shah Cup on Saturday. Already out of title race, India played without pressure and at last came up with a complete performance that had Australia on the backfoot for most part of the match.
The win gave also gave India’s new chief coach Paul van Ass his best moment of a short career with the Indian team. India scored a goal each in all the four quarters through VR Raghunath (1st minute), Nikkin (23rd, 32nd, 60th), while Australia’s goals came from the sticks of Daniel Beale (14th) and Matt Gohdes (53rd).
The win gave also gave India’s new chief coach Paul van Ass his best moment of a short career with the Indian team. India scored a goal each in all the four quarters through VR Raghunath (1st minute), Nikkin (23rd, 32nd, 60th), while Australia’s goals came from the sticks of Daniel Beale (14th) and Matt Gohdes (53rd).