18th Asian Games: Indian men tumble at semifinal hurdle in hockey
The law of averages caught India at its penultimate hurdle as it went down fighting Malaysia in sudden death of penalty shoot out in the first semifinals of men's section in the hockey competition of the 18th Asian Games on Thursday.
With 6-7 defeat in the tie-breaker after playing a 2-2 draw in the regulation period, India lost a chance of gaining direct entry into the 2020 Olympic Games and will have now go through the Olympic qualifiers.
The defeat must have disappointed hockey fans a great deal as India had been pumping goals against all its opponents in earlier pool matches, notching up an impressive tally of 78 goals in five games. The law of averages took over at a moment when India wanted its consistency to continue.
Some aggressive play by Malaysia and lack or urgency in some areas of the Indian team turned out to be decisive factors in a game that had patches of good hockey. In fact, Malaysia were a better side as it was not only deprived of a goal by the Video Referee but also saw another golden chance frittering away when a powerful flick from a penalty corner hit the cross piece and bounced back into play.
India did have its chances and at times it also dominated proceedings but efforts were not enough to upset the Malaysians who had nothing to lose. In fact, not many gave Malaysia a chance against India after it suffered a 1-4 defeat at the hands of Pakistan in a pool game. Vut Malaysia has always been a tough hurdle for India.
After a penalty corner goal by Malaysia was disallowed by Video Referee, India took the lead in the third minute of the second half when Harmanpreet Singh scored from a penalty corner.
Midway in the third quarter, two goals were scored within a span of a minute. First Malaysia equalised Mohammed Razie Rahim in an indirect conversion of a penalty corner and less than a minute later Varun scored India's second goal, also from a penalty corner.
When it looked all good, India paid a heavy price of its lethargy in defence. A poor clearance two minutes from the final whistle gave Malaysia a decisive penalty corner and Mohammed Razie scored to bring the teams at par.
To break the deadlock, penalty shoot out rule was applied. But in the first set of five, both teams scored once. In the sudden death, both scored four goals each while the Malaysians converted the fifth, SV Sunil fumbled to see India out of run for the gold medal match.
India will now bronze medal match on Saturday.
-PTC NEWS
