India Starts Hockey World Cup Campaign by Beating Wales 3–1

Amstelveen: Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored a brace as India beat Wales 3-1 in their opening match of the men's Hockey World Cup here on Saturday.

Harmanpreet scored from penalty corners in the 11th and 43rd minutes after Sanjay (8th) gave India the 1-0 lead.

Sam Welsh scored the lone goal for Wales in the 56th minute.

Indian Fans Bring Independence Day Spirit to Stadium

Clad in national team jersey with a fluttering tri-colour in one hand and umbrella on the other, a huge number of Indian fans thronged to the Wagener Stadium here on the Independence Day to watch their country face Wales in the World Cup opener to enjoy the Saturday 'Afternoon' Fever.

The quaint town of Amstelveen, around 15 km from the Amsterdam CBD resembled a Bhuvneshwar, Rajgir or Ranchi -- the Indian cities where hockey team plays most of its matches.

India's match against Wales is scheduled to start at 1 pm local time (4:30 om IST), but fans began arriving as early as 9 am (12:30 pm IST).

With back-to-back Olympic medals, the expectations from Indian men's team has increased and hence the elevated levels of interest among the diaspora.

For Deepti, a Jaipur native who has been living in the Netherlands for seven years, it was a special occasion as she arrived with her mother, husband and two children.

"We've been living in the Netherlands for seven years, and for the first time, we've come here with the entire family to watch a hockey match. It feels great and proud," she told PTI.

Sakshi, who hails from Lucknow, said watching India play on Independence Day made the occasion even more special.

"Today is also Independence Day, so we've come to support India. What better celebration could there be than this? I'm very excited and hope this tournament will be memorable for India," she said. Sumit, who will be watching his first live hockey match at a stadium, was confident of a strong Indian campaign.

"I think India will not only defeat Wales today but also win all the upcoming matches. This time, the preparations are complete, and I believe we will win a medal at the Hockey World Cup," he said. Beyond diaspora, fans have flown in from as far as United States to watch their favourite players in action.

Jitendra Agarwal, who lives in Las Vegas, USA, has bought tickets for all six matches involving the Indian teams -- three women's and three men's -- in the Netherlands. He and his wife will also travel to Belgium if India reaches the final.

Originally from Udaipur, Jitendra said they had arranged their team jerseys well in advance. "We had the team jerseys shipped from India a long time ago. We couldn't get the orange jerseys because they were recently replaced, but we have the old jerseys," he said.

His wife Rosy has been following Indian hockey since the 2016 Rio Olympics, where the couple watched the Indian team in action. "We went to the Rio Olympics to watch hockey and had a lot of fun. Since then, I've been following Indian hockey," she said.

For Pawan Agarwal, India's recent Olympic performances have raised expectations ahead of the World Cup. "After India's performance at the last Olympics, we feel this time is a great opportunity. We had planned a long time ago to go to the Netherlands during the World Cup and are looking forward to the match against Pakistan on August 19," he said.