India?s V.S. Vinay (right) and Arjun Halappa (left) avoid a clearance by German defender Till Kriwet during their Champions Trophy match in Lahore on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Lahore: India bounced back from a one-goal deficit to beat Germany 3-1 to register their first win in the Champions Trophy hockey tournament on Tuesday.

Down by a Jan-Marco Montag goal in the 20th minute, India pulled up their socks in time to secure their first points in this elite six-nation tournament at the National Hockey Stadium.

Goals from Sandeep Michael (40), Arjun Halappa (59) and Vivek Gupta (68) helped India beat the Germans.

India struggled for the better part of the first half as their opponents dominated the proceedings.

Germany, despite fielding a second string side, made repeated forays on the Indian defence and came quite close to scoring when Michael Purps got the ball from Christian Wein in the midfield before proceeding towards the D.

With hardly any player to challenge him, Purps looked all set to give his team the lead in the fifth minute, but much to the dismay of his teammates, he stepped on the ball.

Soon after, goalkeeper Adrian D?Souza came to India?s rescue when he showed superb reflexes to stop Eike Duckwitz?s attempt at the post as India hung on grimly to survive the German onslaught.

It came as no surprise when Germany took the lead from a penalty corner. Montag?s flick from the set piece beat D?Souza and entered the right side of the goal.

After the breather, India gave a little more thrust to their game and it earned them immediate results as they levelled the score with a Michael strike. Dilip Tirkey?s long ball from the half line was stopped by V.S. Vinay inside the German 25-yard and the forward dodged Bubolz before passing to Michael, who had no problem in putting the ball in.

Following the equaliser, India intensified their attacks. They took the lead near the half-hour mark. After getting the ball near the 25-yard, Halappa moved past a couple of defenders before rolling the ball inside the circle and unleashing a powerful hit to make it 2-1.

Vivek swelled the lead further after Sandeep sent a perfect pass to him from a set piece just a minute before close to ensure that India remained in hunt for a top-four finish.

Holland, Spain win

Defending champions Holland beat Pakistan 4-1 to remain on course for their third successive title, while Spain managed a tough 3-1 win against New Zealand. Holland scored twice in the last five minutes to seal the victory after the teams went to half time with scores level at 1-1.

Ronald Brouwer (15) gave Holland the lead before the hosts drew parity through Sohail Abbas, who equalled Australian Mark Hager?s Champions Trophy record of 32 goals.

Taeke Taekema (39) and Karel Klaver (65) added to the tally before Delmee rounded off with a 69th minute strike.

Pau Quemada scored a brace for Spain and Santiago Freixa added to the tally in the 63th minute as Spain moved a step closer to the final.

New Zealand, who suffered their third defeat, scored their solitary goal through Darren Smith, who converted a penalty corner in the 46th minute.

On Wednesday, India take on arch-rivals Pakistan, Holland play Spain and Germany lock horns with New Zealand.