Hockey India League 2025-26: Tamil Nadu Dragons triumphs over Hyderabad Toofans in shootout thriller

The opening fixture of the Hockey India League 2025-26 perfectly brought out the wildly-oscillating nature of modern hockey as Tamil Nadu Dragons edged past Hyderabad Toofans 4-2 in a shootout following a high-octane 3-3 draw at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on Saturday.

In an attack-heavy contest with six goals, it was India’s ‘keeper at the Junior World Cup, Princedeep Singh, who settled the contest, denying Talwinder Singh in the shootout. Toofans’ Jean-Paul Danneberg also forced a misfire from Tom Craig but the blanks from Talwinder and Michel Stuthorff, the last-minute replacement for Gonzalo Peillat, were too much to overcome.

A point for its effort was ultimately underwhelming for Hyderabad, which rode on a brace from Amandeep Lakra to claw back a two-goal deficit and stay in the fight.

Toofans had the first sight at goal when Zachary Wallace’s pass into the circle was fired at goal by Tim Brand. The shot down the middle made for a straightforward save for David Harte, though.

Moments later, Dragons’ circle entry was halted by Arthur De Sloover’s foot. Blake Govers’ dragflick from the short corner was parried by Jean-Paul Danneberg, but rolled kindly for Uttam Singh to open the score.

Dragons had the chance to consolidate further after Govers intercepted an aerial pass in his own half and pierced through open space to enter the circle. His pass across the face of goal, however, could not find a Dragons stick. But only a couple of minutes later, Craig found Thomas Sorsby at the top of the circle, who then darted forward to his right and fired his shot past Danneberg at the near post.

Toofans managed to control the tempo in the closing minutes of the opening quarter, with Talwinder and Arshdeep Singh’s dribbles on either flank finding a way through the Dragons’ low-zone setup. The pressure yielded a penalty corner in the 12th minute, courtesy of Jacob Anderson hitting a defender’s foot near the left baseline. Lakra squeezed his shot into the right corner to initiate the fight back.

ALSO READ | After Junior World Cup glory, Ankit Pal seeks senior call-up via Hockey India League

Wallace created another chance three minutes into the second quarter, as he evaded his markers and struck Amit Rohidas’ foot inside the circle. Lakra sounded the board for a second time, once again beating the custodian with a shot into the right side.

Hyderabad once again had to fall behind in the second half for its attack to regain its mojo. Uttam pushed towards goal along the left baseline in the circle and set up a tap-in for local boy Selvam Karthi in the 32nd minute. However, the goal was to Craig’s credit in equal part, who prevented a turnover and dove ahead at the edge of the circle to guide the ball towards Uttam in the first place.

FILE IMAGE: Amandeep Lakra (4) of Hyderabad scored twice to bring his side back in the contest.
| Photo Credit:
M. VEDHAN

Once behind, Toofans ramped up their offence, again forcing the Dragons to crowd the circle. Talwinder got a shot at goal in the 34th minute but saw his attempt padded away by Harte. They pared the score at three apiece only a minute later, a goal culminating from De Sloover’s refusal to let go of a ball rolling over the baseline on the left. The Belgian tucked it with a reverse-stick jab through the faintest of space between the keeper and the near post.

Arshdeep could have eked out a lead for the Toofans just seconds later but lobbed his shot wide of goal, attempting to beat the charging Harte. 

Dragons won four PCs before the close of the third period but saw their attempts thwarted. Twice they went for a variation, injecting wider to Rohidas, whose slap shots begged for better execution.

In the first minute of the final quarter, Arshdeep found space at the edge of the circle but failed to beat the keeper. Toofans forced another short corner, only for Lakra to miss his hat-trick and send his dragflick over the goal. Arshdeep thought he had had the final say with 22 seconds left, when he was brought down in the Dragons circle. But a video referral got the decision reversed, denying Lakra another shot at his hat-trick.

The defining hand in the contest was reserved for Princedeep, literally.

Published on Jan 03, 2026