Holland outclasses India

S. THYAGARAJAN

Outplayed and outclassed by the sheer precision and pace generated by the youthful Dutch side, India succumbed to a humiliating 3-6 defeat in the BDO Masters hockey championship at the Ulhenhorster HC on Friday.

Nothing illustrated the pathetic state of the Indian team more than the scoreline. Clearly, the selectors’ policy of resting the seniors and blooding youngsters proved a fiasco if the show of the newcomers was anything to go by.

With the handful of seniors not touching their expected level of proficiency the team slumped before the consistency and craft of the Dutchmen.

If the margin had remained 1-4 at half-time, it was largely on account of the good work in the deep by Sardar Singh. Throughout, he played his heart out to contain the Dutch sequence of moves. But the rest of the defenders were unequal to the task. From the start, the Dutch had everything rolling well for them. Quick passing and proper positioning helped the attack to escalate pressure by the minute. Bob de Voogd at the right with Rogeer Hofman subjugated the defenders quickly. When de Voogd slotted in the first goal off a cross from Verga it clearly indicated the dominance of the Dutch.

A slack defensive formation led to the second goal which saw Robbert Kemperman increasing the lead. India looked back in the fight when Mahadik hit in a penalty corner — Sandeep Singh was not on the field at that point — but the joy proved evanescent. Jeroen Hertzberger tapped in a cross from Hofman followed by another goal by Klaas Vermeulen.

Despite a marginal improvement in the second half by the Indians, the Dutch dominance continued. A clean hit by Sandeep Singh from a penalty corner raised hopes but the Dutch paid India back in the same coin when Mink slammed in a penalty corner.

An agonising miss by Khandekar — his reverse flick off a Ravi Pal pass was off target — was followed by goal by Ravipal after a bout of passing with Dharamvir Singh. However in the closing minutes, Netherlands scored the sixth goal through Constantine Jonker.

The results: Germany 5 (Christopher Zeller 3, hat-trick, Osker Deecke, Christoph Menke) bt Japan 3 ( Hiroki Sakamoto, Kazuhiro Tsubouchi, Kenji Kitazato).

Netherlands 6 (de Voogd, Robbert Kemperman, Jeroen Hertzburger, Klaas Vermeulen, Mink van der Weerden, Constantine Jonker) bt India 3 (Mahadik, Sandeep Singh, Ravipal).

Saturday’s matches: Netherlands v Japan (5-30 p.m.); India v Germany (8 p.m.).

Keywords: BDO Masters hockey championship, India-Holland clash