Canada’s under-18 national men’s field hockey team did itself proud at the Youth Olympics.
The Canadian men won a silver medal in the new Hockey 5s adapatation of field hockey following a shootout loss to world No. 1 Australia in Nanjing, China on Wednesday.
Burnaby Field Hockey Club’s Amrit Sidhu scored a pair of Canada’s goals, including a pair in the final minutes of play to send the final to a shootout.
Sidhu closed the deficit to 3-2 with two minutes remaining on a great solo effort. He then tallied the game-tying marker, deflecting a shot from Balraj Panesar with just 30 seconds left on the clock.
The shootout was the third consecutive game for Canada that went to extra strokes.
On Monday, Canada avenged an earlier loss to Spain in the pool stage, with a comeback 4-4 draw before winning the ensuing shootout to advance to the final against Australia.
Sidhu scored twice in that game, including the 4-3 tally in the 31st minute. He also had three of Canada’s goals in the thrilling 6-5 shootout.
In an earlier quarter-final matchup, Canada led Pakistan 5-1 on two first-period goals by Sidhu.
But the Canadians had to hold on to manage a 7-7 draw with Pakistan before taking the shootout 3-2.
Sidhu led all Canadian scorers with nine goals and four more in shootouts at the Youth Olympics.
