New Delhi, July 19: India fought their way to a 4-3 victory over France in the first hockey Test at the French National Institute of Sport and Physical Education (INSEP) in Paris.
According to information received here, India who led 2-1 at half time struck goals through Tushar Khandker (5th minute), Sandeep Singh (12th, 65th) and Rajpal Singh (69th) while Fredric Soyez scored a hat trick for France in the 6th, 51st and 68th minutes on Sunday.
India took the lead in the third minute but Dharamvir Singh fumbled inside the circle. But Indian skipper Rajpal, fed by an overhead pass by Sandeep, darted along the backline and passed to Khandker, who beat French goalkeeper Mathias Dierckems.
France levelled when Soyez cashed in on a defensive lapse by Sarvanjit Singh and Danish Mujtaba and beat goalkeeper Bharat Chetri as he dived to his left.
However, in the 12th minute, India got its first penalty corner and Sandeep was swift to put the visitors 2-1 ahead.
Soyes scored France’s second goal in the second half and restored parity.
But India nosed ahead to a 3-2 lead when Sandeep successfully converted the second penalty corner.
France fought back to find the equaliser three minutes through a penalty corner and Soyez flicked the ball past Chetri to score his hat trick.
With the match delicately balanced, Rajpal struck the match winner for India when he slammed home a cross by Gurbaj Singh.