Ipoh: Sloppy defence let India down as they suffered their second consecutive defeat in Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament going down 1-5 to Argentina in Ipoh on Friday.
 
India, who had lost 3-4 to New Zealand in their opening match, put up a spineless defence to find themselves at the bottom of the points table after the first two matches.
 
Argentina rode on the brilliance of Facundo Callioni who struck three goals while Pedro Ibarra and Tomas Incento got a goal each.
 
Drag flicker Sandeep Singh scored the only goal for the Indian team which comprised mostly of junior players who were found wanting against their much faster opponents.
 
Argentina fired the first salvo in the 12th minute of the contest when the nippy Callioni produced a brilliant back hand flick to take the Indian defenders by surprise. The goal was the result of a fast counter attack which saw Callioni break through the defence and find the target.
 
The Indians, who lacked the sting in the forwardline, restored parity in the 25th minute with drag flicker Sandeep Singh scoring his fourth goal in the tournament by converting a penalty corner. The goal served as a tonic for the Indians who managed to make a number of forays into the rival box but invariably failed to get their acts together at the goalmouth.
 
The Argentinians shot into the lead just four minutes before the interval with Pedro Ibarra converting a penalty corner much to the delight of his teammates. After the break, Argentina attacked with renewed vigour and slammed in two goals in quick succession to shatter India's hopes of staging a fight back.
 
While Callioni capped a brilliant move to score the third goal in the 43rd minute, Tomas Incento consolidated the position for his team with a gentle push two minutes later, capitalising on a defensive lapse. A few minutes later, the Indians suffered another jolt when Callioni struck his third goal to increase the margin.
 
The Indians got as may as seven penalty corners but could manage to convert just one. Argentina had a better ratio as they got six and converted two. The Indians will take on Canada in their next match after the rest day tomorrow and need to pull up their socks to keep themselves in the reckoning in the seven-nation tournament.
 
In the other league matches today, Pakistan prevailed over New Zealand 6-3 while Canada scraped past Belgium with a 1-0 verdict in a keenly contested tussle.
 
Rehan Butt scored four field goals (11th, 30th, 60th and 69th minutes) to pave way for Pakistan's victory over New Zealand. Shakeel Abbasi (14th) and Mohd Saqlain (28th) chipped in with a goal apiece.
 
It was Pakistan's second win as many matches. In the first match, Canada managed to beat Belgium narrowly. Winger Mathew Guest scored the all important goal in the 50th minute. Meanwhile, the disappointment of two back-to-back defeats was writ large on the faces of the Indians.
 
Coach A K Bansal made it clear that he was not happy with the performance of the players in today's match. "We played badly, conceded easy goals, and then lost the spirit. They not only scored easy goals, but also got easy penalty corners," he said.
 
Technical Advisor Ric Charlesworth said the defeat signified the overall standard of the game in the country. "This result shows where we stand as of now in the international hockey and gives an idea how much work is needed to be done," Charlesworth said.
 
Ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh was dejected that India's penalty corner exercise had not settled down till now. "Our overall set pattern in penalty corner did not work today because we are yet to settle down," he said.
 
(Courtesy, Agencies)