India suffer worst defeat ever in hockey

Shashank Shekhar

NEW DELHI: Seldom has the gap between expectation and the result been so huge. A full house at the National Stadium, which included PM Dr Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi among others, was egging on India to reach for the sun in the men’s hockey final against Australia on Thursday. India, however, equalled their biggest-ever defeat in international hockey, 8-0, as the Aussies continued their dominance of Commonwealth Games hockey with their fourth straight title.

In the process, memories of the historic debacle against Pakistan in the 1982 Asian Games final at the same venue, which India lost 1-7, came back to haunt afficionados. It was an utter disaster for the hosts who conceded 22 goals in the meet. It left even the victors a bit vexed.

India’s previous biggest defeat was 0-8 against Holland in 1985. “The scoreline does not reflect the relative strengths of the two teams,” said Aussie coach Ric Charlesworth after the final. Aussie captain Liam De Young said, “We didn’t expect to win by such margin.”

Those thoughts were, though, little consolation on a day Indian hockey suffered a a terrible humiliation. For a team trying to regain lost glory, losing a final itself was painful. But losing it by such a margin must be demoralising.

Red-hot Australia were expected to win, such is their class and form. Everyone knows they are the best in the world. But India, who had raised hopes with some spirited performances in this event, were not supposed to fall apart. But after the first 15 minutes during which the two teams seemed well-matched, it was one-way traffic.

While the World champions don’t really need luck to win games, their first goal was a lucky break as Sandeep Singh deflected Jason Wilson’s hit into his own goal. What happened thereafter was a slaughter with the Indians playing lambs.

The Aussies were 4-0 up by half-time and pumped in four more in the second half to complete the rout. Such is their aggressive mindset and will to dominate that they continued to attack and look for goals till the last moment even though the opponent was gasping for breath. It was like a heavyweight boxer pummelling his rival who is on the floor, knocked out.

While many Indian players and coach Jose Brasa blamed the first goal for the shift of momentum towards Australia, it was clear that India were so completely outplayed that they never looked like competing. It was embarrassing, for a final. Not giving India any space and freedom, the Aussies overpowered the home team with hockey of the highest order. Australia, thus, completed a hat-trick of titles in 2010, having already won the World Cup and the Champions Trophy.

Earlier, in a bruising battle, New Zealand pipped England 5-3 in a penalty shootout to clinch the bronze medal. The teams were tied 3-3 after extra time.