FIH Hockey Pro League

 Spain were put through their paces by a determined young German side looking to make its mark, but the Red Sticks ground out a 3-1 victory in the end in the Men's FIH Pro League hockey championship here on Sunday.

The victory took the Dutch to 32 points, the same as Great Britain. However, Great Britain can no longer win the league as they have the same number of points but fewer wins and no matches remaining. 

Hosts and reigning Olympic champions Belgium will have massive stakes in the championship title and relegation battles in the men's and women's competitions, respectively. In the men's competition, New Zealand have already been relegated, having taken three points from their 16 matches. 

The Dutch claimed a comfortable 4-1 victory on Thursday to take a step closer to overtaking Great Britain at the top of the standings, with two matches remaining. Both Spain and Belgium also remain in the running for the men’s title, making for a thrilling final mini-tournament in Antwerp, starting on Friday.

Goals for The Netherlands came from Duco Telgenkamp (7'), Boris Burkhardt (41') and Tjep Hoedemakers (43'), while Sanjay (18') and Gurjant Singh (46') scored for the Indians. The Indian men's hockey team started off the contest with more the possession, looking to attack the Dutch in the early stages.

ndia, who had lost both their matches in the previous week, came back strongly to beat reigning Olympic champion Belgium 5-1 on Friday. In the return clash with Great Britain, it looked like the Men in Blue were on their way to victory when they surged to a 3-1 lead by half-time.

The victory in an entertaining encounter took Great Britain to the top of the Pro League table. They now have 22 points from nine matches, five outright wins and four draws and three shoot-out bonus points, while India slipped to second position with 19 points from 10 matches with five wins, two wins in shoot-outs and three defeats.