London: Defensive lapses led to India’s second successive loss in the Olympic Games men’s hockey competition as they suffered a humiliating 1-3 defeat at the hands of New Zealand, on Wednesday.
Conceding soft penalty corners and allowing the rival strikers plenty of leeway inside the circle, India’s defence permited New Zealand to call the shots even after taking an early lead.
Sandeep Singh’s second minute penalty corner conversion kept India ahead for 10 minutes before the ‘Black Sticks’ hit back to score three goals in the first session through Andrew Hayward, Phillip Burrows and Nicholas Wilson to leave the Indians shattered.
India’s efforts to bounce back in the second session saw them frequently break into the rival circle, but were unable to alter the scoreline.
The Netherlands now lead the Group B table with six points from two matches after posting a 3-1 victory over Belgium on Wednesday.
The Indians opened the scoring in the second minute through a penalty corner conversion by Sandeep, who sent the drag flick into the net to make the most of the first Indian raid on the New Zealand goal.
New Zealand responded by forcing their first penalty corner in the third minute, but the Indian goal had a close shave as Simon Child’s deflection from Andrew Hayward’s shot rebounded off the horizontal.
India played a better game in the second session and had a period of sustained pressure, but failed to pose much of a threat to the New Zealand goal. The Indian strikers repeatedly broke into the circle and then gave the ball away, not even managing to earn a penalty corner.
“It’s disappointing to start with two losses, but that does not mean we have nothing to play for,” captain Bharat Chetri said after the match. (PTI)
