FOUR-NATION WOMEN’S HOCKEY India miss final berth; play Oz next
HARPREET KAUR LAMBA
German resilience proved too strong for India’s girls, who lost 1-2 in their last league match to miss out on a final berth in the Lal Bahadur Shastri fournation women’s hockey tournament here on Friday.
A draw would have seen India through, but the hosts’ defensive tactics coupled with an inability to convert penalty corners — India’s only chance to score as the Germans had blocked almost all routes to their citadel — cost the team dear.
India now play Australia — who lost 2-3 to New Zealand in their last league game on Friday — for third place on Saturday. The Kiwis take on Germany in the final.
On the day, the Germans deployed as many as five players on the back line.
Surprisingly, India too began on a defensive note.
The hosts had their best chance of the game as early as in the 11th minute. On a counter, Anupa Barla was left unmarked, with only rival goalkeeper Friederike Schreiter to beat. An error of judgment and the urgency to score saw Barla offer a feeble shot that was easily stopped.
A minute later, Schreiter brought down striker Navjot Kaur in a hard tackle that earned the home team a a penalty stroke.
Jaspreet Kaur was spot on
(1-0), and that was the last time India held the upper hand in the match.
The Germans came down hard and kept the Indian defenders on their toes throughout. The team earned four penalty corners in the span of eight minutes, and defenders Jaspreet, Sandeep Kaur and Nikki Pradhan threw themselves at everything.
A lapse in the dying minute though all but changed the complexion of the game. Germany pulled off the equaliser — Laura Saenger converting a penalty corner — as the teams went into the break 1-1.
Barely three minutes into the second half, Saenger struck again and the Germans broke into a jig (21).
To India’s credit, they did not lose heart and went into all out attack from there.
Breaching the German wall was quite an ask — Nina Notman and Laura Saenger were lessons in how to defend. India created several moves, but nothing found its way through the rival D.
India earned their first penalty corner in the 53rd minute — followed by another seven minutes later — but lack fo expertise in the area cost them heavy.
“It was a hard-fought game. We did not want to concede a goal after taking the lead, and I think it backfired. Penalty corners are a weak area and we failed today,” said India coach S.K. Subramani.
German coach Marc Herbert was elated to make it to the final. “It wasn’t an easy win. The Indian players are very good, and we knew we would have to raise our game to match them.”