HWL: India thrashed 7-2 by Oz after taking 2-0 lead in quarterfinal
Biswajyoti Brahma,TNN
NEW DELHI: India generated a lot of heat for a while but then got steamrolled on a chilly night at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here on Wednesday. The hosts blew away a two-goal advantage and were plastered 7-2 by Australia in the quarterfinals of the Hero Hockey World League Final.
The Indians gave it their all in the first 25 minutes and took a 2-0 lead as the fans cheered and the Australian team’s coach Rick Charlesworth shook his head in disbelief. But then, the Indians ran out of steam and became easy meat.
They will now play Olympic champions Germany in the classification match for 5-8 positions. World No.1 Germany earlier lost to the Netherlands in another quarterfinal.
England and New Zealand were the other teams which made the semifinals.
India started the match on a positive note and warmed up well with incessant attacks. In the sixth minute, Dharamveer Singh ran in from the half line and passed inside the circle to Birendra Lakra whose shot was deflected in by an Australian defender. Five minutes later, MB Aiyappa’s pass near the circle saw Nikkin Thimmaiah cleverly reverse flicked towards a waiting Yuvraj Walmiki, who had no problem in tapping the ball home much to the delight of the sizeable home crowd.
The hosts’ intention to put pressure on the rivals from the word go was evident from the first move of the match as the Indians penetrated the Australian circle in the first minute with an attack from the left. After scoring two goals, they were all over the Australians with several runs inside the rival circle. They maintained the 2-0 lead till the 24th minute, but the script changed dramatically after Australia scored their first goal.
Nicholas Budgeon’s penalty corner conversion was followed by two more goals in the first half itself, including one in the final minute before the half time hooter.
It was an altogether different story in the second half as a tired-looking India struggled to break the Australian defence. The Aussies looked charged up as they completely dominated the match and scored at will. They scored thrice in the first 12 minutes of the second half to make it 6-2 with the Indian defence looking absolutely clueless and dispirited.
The Indians knew there was no way they could come back from this onslaught. They did manage to get a couple of penalty corners towards the end but it counted for nothing. The last match between the two sides at the same venue, during the 2010 Commonwealth Games, had ended 8-0 in Australia’s favour.
Earlier, the Netherlands denied Germany a place in the semifinals with a 2-1 win. The Dutch exposed the chinks in the German defence in the first half, slamming home twice before the break. Germany tried hard to make a comeback into the match and managed to reduce the margin in the 38th minute. But they could not do anything more than that.
Belgium were left to rue missed opportunities as they were shown the door by England in the first quarterfinal of the day. It was not Belgium’s day as Tom Carson’s 47th minute goal tilted the match in England’s favour.
New Zealand missed a penalty stroke and conceded a late equaliser, but they held their nerve to script a thrilling win in sudden death against a lively Argentina.
Results: Australia (Nicolas Budgeon 24, Jason Wilson 29, Glenn Turner 35, Ford Russel 41, 47, Simon Orchard 45, Jacob Wheton 65) beat India (Birendra Lakra 6, Yuvraj Walmiki 11): 7-2; New Zealand beat Argentina 1-1 (sudden death after 2-2 in tie-breaker); The Netherlands beat Germany 2-1; England beat Belgium 1-0
Semis lineup: New Zealand vs England; The Netherlands vs Australia