Paris Olympics hockey: Harmanpreet's late strike hands India 1-1 draw against Argentina

Paris, Jul 29 (PTI) India skipper Harmanpreet Singh once again came to his side's rescue, scoring a late equaliser to salvage a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Argentina in their second men's hockey pool match at the Paris Olympics here on Monday.

Lucas Martinez gave Argentina the lead in the 22nd minute before Harmanpreet converted India's 10th and last penalty corner to pick up a crucial point from the game.

The Indians had defeated New Zealand in their Pool B opener on Saturday.

The match, which also had former Indian cricket captain and head coach Rahul Dravid in the stands, started on a slow pace before picking up the momentum.

The Indians were let in by a below-par performance from the midfield as the likes of vice-captain Hardik Singh and Manpreet Singh were nowhere to be seen.

India were also let down by poor penalty corner conversion rate as they made use of just one out of the 10 set pieces earned in the entire match.

India will next play Ireland on Tuesday before taking on Australia and reigning champions Belgium in their final two pool matches.

The top four teams from each pool will qualify for the quarterfinals. PTI