Indians flatter to deceive

Christopher Zeller, who scored three goals 23rd, 37th and 69th minutes, was the main architect of the host team8217;s win yesterday while Sebastian Draguhn 44th chipped in with one.

Young striker Tushar Khandekar 29th was the lone scorer for India. Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 in another match yesterday.

In the absence of some of their main players, Germany8217;s error-prone attack faltered while penetrating into the Indian defence in the first half.

After Zeller failed to convert the first penalty corner, Matthias Witthaus lost a big opportunity to score in the 21st minute thanks to the exploits of Indian goalkeeper Bharat Chetri.

Germans drew first blood when a Nicolas Emmerling pass from the backline found a perfectly positioned Zeller in front of the goal and the latter shot home without wasting any time. A few minutes later, Indians fought back to score the equaliser through Khandekar.

The Germans played with purpose after the change of ends while India lost track.

Couple of minutes after the break, Zeller converted a penalty corner to give his side a 2-1 lead and within 10 minutes Sebastian Draguhn netted the third goal for the hosts.

The Germans messed up a few more chances, including two penalty corners.

India tried to get their act together but could not succeed. Rajpal Singh came closer to reduce the margin but his hit was far off the target.

In the dying moments, Zeller put it past Chetri once again to hammer the final nail on India8217;s coffin.

Indian team manager G M Srivastava said the team played well in the first half, but could not keep up the momentum in the second.