The Indian women’s hockey team succumbed to the pressure of a must-win match and were knocked out of semi-final contention after playing out a goalless draw against Australia here on Saturday.
India needed a win to advance to the last four while a draw was enough for the Aussies to make it to the last four on the basis of more number of goals scored.
The goal difference for both teams stood identical at minus two but Australia had three strikes compared to India’s two. Both teams had drawn their opening Pool D match against China.
The Indian team, which had performed brilliantly before losing to the Netherlands by two goals in the first match of the second leg, looked out of rhythm on the day.
They missed several chances and struggled to retain possession against Australia, ranked just one place above them.
Chief coach Sjoerd Marijne even substituted goalkeeper Bichu Devi in the final five minutes trying to throw the kitchen sink at the opposition but to no avail.
Having finished
Read more at the source
Disclaimer: The content of this post is sourced from external sites and is for informational purposes only. All rights and credits belong to the original authors and publishers.