No mettle, no medal as hockey teams falter
GOLDCOAST: Indian men’s hockey team finished a disappointing fourth at the Commonwealth Games as it struggled to breach a stout England defence to lose the bronze medal match 1-2.
England avenged their 3-4 loss to India in the group stage as Sam Ward (7th minute, 43rd minute) struck twice for the winners while Varun Kumar (27th) was the lone goal scorer for India.
India had won silver in the previous two editions, ending runners-up to Australia on both occasion. India captain Manpreet Singh was very upset with the outcome.
“We came here for a medal, but we didn’t achieve that. We played really bad and I really don’t feel like going anywhere tonight. We are so disappointed, we did not expect this result,” said Manpreet.
Coach Sjoerd Marijne was also disappointed. “In our close matches, we’ve got to take every opportunity and we don’t do it. We give it to them too easily and that’s been happening the whole tournament. I hope they (Indian players) don’t ever want to experience this any more,” he said.
“For me the highlight was the first match against England, the last two minutes and we’d hoped it was also possible now, but that’s too bad.”
Though India had better ball possession in the initial minutes of the first quarter, England were far more dominating with intense attack.
WOMEN SUFFER HUMILIATING LOSS
Indian women’s hockey team suffered a 0-6 defeat in the bronze medal match against England to finish fourth on Saturday.
India could convert none of the five penalty corners and their defence line-up cracked under pressure in the final quarter to go out of the tournament on an embarrassing note.