Canada upset India; Dutch clinch title Beating Pak not enough, says angry Oltmans
UPSTAGED India squander several scoring opportunities to lose against Canada; Netherlands beat Argentina to win the London leg
Gordon Johnston was Canada’s hero, his 44th minute field goal punishing a profligate Indian team that did not show enough determination to win on a cold afternoon.
It was Johnston who drew first blood for Canada in the third minute, but Harmanpreet Singh’s goals from penalty corners in the 7th and 22nd minutes put India in control, but only just.
Mumbai-born 25-year-old Keegan Pereira’s 40th minute goal stunned the Indians before a mercurial Johnston capped a Richard Hildreth assist with a sizzling reverse hit that won Canada a ticket to the World Cup. India had defeated Canada 3-0 in a group league match earlier in the tournament.
All three goals came in the first half came from penalty corners.
Johnston converted Canada’s second penalty corner with a rasping flick to the top right corner of the goal. The Indians clearly hadn’t planned for Johnston and probably thought skipper Scott Tupper would take the hit.
Harmanpreet Singh justified the faith coach Roelant Oltmans had on him in this tournament.
A clean finish to the right bottom levelled scores and midway through the second quarter, the young dragflicker was on target after captain Manpreet Singh injected the ball for a change.
India had seven penalty corners (10 in all) before half-time and their inability to capitalise on them only helped Canada regroup and counterattack.
“Full credit to our defenders for denying India the goals. We came out determined as a group The 3-2 defeat against Canada will teach us some hard lessons, said India’s Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans. A wasteful India converted just two of their 10 penalty corners on Sunday and missed several gilt-edged opportunities against Canada to finish sixth in the eight-team Hockey World League semi-final here.
“Certainly didn’t want to finish sixth here. After beating Pakistan 6-1 yesterday, this result is disappointing. Our boys have to understand that beating Pakistan is not enough,” said a livid Oltmans in a post-match chat, adding, “Canada were determined today while our boys didn’t have the attitude to win”.
India won four of their seven matches here. Two of their four wins came against a disjointed Pakistan team, one against Scotland and one against Canada (group match).
India lost to The Netherlands (group match) and Malaysia in the quarterfinals. Oltmans said India’s performance was below par.
“We had 20 shots on goal today and converted twice. We can talk about statistics for hours but until we can beat the big teams like Holland and Malaysia, we will go nowhere ... Pakistan is not a yardstick,” Oltmans said.
Oltmans said India hope to arrive at their “best 18” after August. Oltmans wants to see India’s best team at the Asia Cup in October in Dhaka.
“This tournament was not a do-or-die for India. The do-ordie will be in October and December (Hockey World League final in Odisha). We have enough homework given by our opponents. If we create a lot but can’t score then at least the defence should stay well organised. We should never have lost this game against Canada today,” said Oltmans.
Sunday’s 3-1 win against China brought the smiles back in the Pakistan camp.
The seventh finish in London keeps Pakistan in the hunt and coach Khawaja Junaid is backing his young team to get better over the next few months.
“These boys will get better. It was good to see Umar Bhutta among the goals and once we get a couple of seniors back, Pakistan can only improve,” he told HT.
Pakistan’s next big assignment will be the Asia Cup but Junaid said a series of exposure matches against top teams are being planned.
“We have requested England and Holland to play some Test matches against us and these tough matches will give us experience on how to play the pressure games. This time we played a lot of soft hockey,” said Junaid.
Certainly didn’t want to finish sixth here. After beating Pakistan 61, this result is disappointing.Our rboys have to understand that beating Pakistan is not enough. We had 20 shots on goal today and converted twice. We can talk about statistics for hours but until we can beat the big teams, we will go nowhere...