U-18 men hockey: Thrilling 3-3 draw levels India & Aus series

Bhopal: India’s U-18 men’s hockey side were held to a 3-3 draw by Australia at the Udhav Das Mehta (Bhai Ji) Central SAI Centre on Wednesday, leaving the four-match series deadlocked—each side with a victory and two draws.In the last match of the series, India took an early grip on the contest, racing into a 2-0 lead in the first quarter. The breakthrough came in the 10th minute when Karan Gautam coolly slotted home a penalty corner. Four minutes later Ben Siddharth extended the advantage with a sharp field strike that had the home crowd buzzing.Australia, however, showed resilience and began to claw their way back into the match. Jet Johnstone emerged as the visitors’ hero in the second quarter, notching a brace with goals in the 18th and 25th minutes to level the scores by half-time. The quick turnaround swung momentum in Australia’s favour heading into the interval.The third quarter was a tight, tactical affair with both teams probing for openings. India’s captain Ketan Kushwaha restored the lead in the 40th minute, converting a well-worked field move to make it 3-2 and give the hosts renewed hope.Despite several chances to extend their advantage, India were unable to put the result beyond doubt. Australia kept pressing and were rewarded late in the contest when Andrew Faulds found the net in the 57th minute, rifling home a field goal to peg the score back to 3-3 with barely three minutes to play.Neither side could find a decisive breakthrough in the closing minutes, and the match finished all square.The draw sealed a closely contested four-match series in which India recorded one win, Australia one win, and two matches ended level.India will take valuable lessons from both fixtures as they prepare for upcoming age-group assignments, while young talents such as Karan Gautam, Ben Siddharth and captain Ketan Kushwaha earned praise for their attacking intent.