Wasteful India shocked by Wales in women’s hockey
GOLDCOAST: High on medal hope while landing in Australia for the Commonwealth Games, the Indian women’s hockey team was dealt a reality check first up after losing 2-3 to lowly Wales in Pool A on Thursday.
It’s not enough to dominate possession, attack in waves and create numerous chances, but what matters is capitalising on the chances. India learned this the hard way at the Gold Coast Hockey Centre here on Thursday.
The Harendra Singh-coached team, the Asia Cup holders, arrived after an away series win against Korea but were left trailing 0-2 at half-time against a Wales side ranked 16 places lower than India, ranked 10th in the world.
India fought back in the third quarter by scoring twice to draw level, but faltered in the final attempts despite taking many chances at the goal. In the end, their efforts proved insufficient as they conceded a goal three minutes from end of play.
Liza Dailey gave Wales the lead with a field goal in the seventh minute, the only goal of the first quarter. India forced four penalty corners in succession but Gurjit Kaur was thwarted by the Wales goalkeeper each time.
Wales started the second quarter on an aggressive note and earned a penalty stroke, which was converted by Siam French in the 26th minute.
India dominated the third quarter and reduced the margin via skipper Rani, who scored off a penalty corner in the 34th minute. They made it 2-2 a few minutes later when Nikki Pradhan scored a field goal (41st min).
However, they could not convert their possession as they failed to score in the fourth quarter. Instead, Wales, having absorbed the pressure applied by Indian forwards, scored in the 57th minute through Nàtasha Marke-jones to seal the match.
India enjoyed 53% possession against 47% by their opponents, entered the circle 40 times to Wales’ 14, and had 17 penalty corners against three for their opponents. In the fourth quarter, Wales had one chance against a dozen opportunities for India, but they made the lone attempt count.