It was a do or die match. As the clock ticked by, the Indian hockey fans waited with bated breath for a solitary chance, which would sway the game in India’s favour. With less than three minutes for the final hooter, Navneet Kaur’s deflected off Rani cross, scoring the lone goal in the match against Ireland. The goal not only gave the first taste of victory to the women’s team in the Olympics, but kept the quarter-final hopes alive.

“This is the new India team. They don’t give up,” said a proud coach Sjoerd Marijne after the match. “I am proud of the way the girls dealt with pressure. It is a happy story we made three minutes before half time.

The Indian team looked hungry for a win right from the start of the match. In the first minute itself, the team made three circle entries. India continued to test Irish patience, by keeping the ball possession and dominating the game. Despite the high circle penetration and some quality chances, India converted just one opportunity into a goal.

“The only thing we can blame is not scoring enough. But, the match was high scoring and a good passing game, just like the way we wanted,” the coach says.

After the 1-4 loss against Great Britain Sjeord Marijne had spoken about a few players resorting to ‘individual play’ rather than team game. His complaint has now been addressed by his team.

“I was a little bit angry,” he says, referring to that game. You can’t lose matches the way we did against Great Britain. Too many easy things were wrong that day. But in any tournament, you can’t look back.”

One aspect of the team which looks rusty is the penalty corners. India got as many as 14PCs, and were not able to convert any of them. On quipping whether there is a lack of practice, the coach said. “We have been practicing PCs three times a day for four years now. Their PC defence was good. They did good running.”

India will next face South Africa, which they need to win and Ireland has to lose to Great Britain to make way for India into the quarterfinals. “In less than 24 hours, we will be playing our next match. Ireland will get more time as they play in the evening. These are additional points. But we need to focus on our own game.