TOKYO, July 25: Hammered by the mighty Netherlands in the campaign opener, the Indian women’s hockey team would look to pull up its socks and bounce back in the tournament when it takes on world no. 3 Germany in a second Pool A match at the Tokyo Olympics here on Monday.
Against world no.1 Netherlands, the Indians fought valiantly in the first two quarters before losing steam to go down 1-5 on Saturday.
The Indian team would look to make amends of the patchy show and seek consistency throughout the game against the Germans.
It was a closely-contested affair till the first two quarters with the brave Indian defence, led by goalkeeper Savita Punia, showing tenacity to thwart Netherlands’ persistent raids before the Dutch side ran riot in the last two quarters.
The Indian women, who are playing in their second successive Olympics, can take a lot of heart from their performances against three-time Olympic champions and current silver medallist Netherlands, at least in the first half time.
But sustaining the momentum for the entire 60 minutes is what counts in international hockey and India’s chief coach Sjoerd Marijne very well understands that fact.
“We have watched the match against the Netherlands together and have spoken about the points we need to improve and we are currently focusing on that. Germany are also a very strong side,” Marijne said.
With six teams battling it out for a top-four finish in order to secure a place in the cross-over quarterfinals from each pool, the result of every match in the league phase will count. And having been placed in a tough Pool A alongside Netherlands, reigning Olympic champions Great Britain, European silver medallists Germany as well as Ireland and South Africa, the Rani Rampal-led side has its task cut out. Besides being the European champions, the Germans are the reigning Olympic silver medallist and have already started their campaign on a positive note by beating Great Britain 2-1.
For India to succeed they will have to come out of their slumber and attack the opposition goal in numbers consistently, which was lacking in the tournament opener as they mostly relied on counter attacks. (PTI)
