With a place in the final at stake and a chance to secure a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics, India women turned in a performance to forget in its 0-4 loss to host China in the women’s hockey semifinal, here at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Field on Thursday.
India entered the tournament as the top seed and had a comfortable passage up until the last four stage but came unstuck in a high-stakes game. China dominated India with its speed and passing, while the away side misplaced its passes and kept running into Chinese defenders. Things only clicked for India when it went 0-2 down, but China held onto its lead before adding two more late goals.
“We didn’t play well. China played well. That’s about it,” India head coach Janneke Schopman said afterwards.
While the Dutchwoman felt India came into the tournament in the right frame of mind, she made note of the difference in matches played between the two semifinalists.
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She also suggested that China’s exposure to the higher-quality FIH Pro League last season aided its progress under new head coach Alyson Annan. China played 16 matches in the Pro League running between November last year and July 2023.
India played in last season’s FIH Nations Cup, which lasted just a fortnight in December.
“It is what it is. It’s unfortunate we are not in the Pro League,” said Schopman.
India goalkeeper Savita Punia was called into action in the opening quarter when she had to make a save from a penalty corner off Ning Ma’s drag-flick.
But a slight variation from the fourth penalty corner in the 26th minute and some good fortune gave China the lead before half-time. He Jiangxin passed the ball to the left to create room for Zhong Jiaqi to fire in her drag-flick, which took a deflection from the first runner Nikki Pradhan and went in.
In the second half, China doubled its lead from another penalty corner. Ning’s deflected drag-flick rose to the left, where injector Zou Meirong smashed it low into the boards.
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After the goal, India stitched together a few passing moving moves to penetrate the Chinese circle but failed to create the required openings to get back in the game.
India had its first penalty corner in the final minute of the third quarter. When Salima Tete’s rising drag-flick found the net, the boisterous local crowd fell flat, but the referee correctly ruled it out for dangerous height. Tete again had the ball in goal from a penalty corner, but this too was ruled out for the same reason.
In the 55th minute, China scored from a counterattack. Savita saved the first attempt, but Liang Meiyu was on hand to poke home the rebound. The Chinese players rose in celebration, celebrating its passage to the final for the first time since 2014.
India, then, unsuccessfully reviewed a penalty corner against it from which Gu Bingfeng added more gloss to the result.
Savita reiterated her coach’s assessment. “We didn’t play our hockey in the first half. We got the three penalty corners (PC) in the third quarter but didn’t convert them. We were a little unlucky with our PC defence as well. We know what’s our goal and how we can raise to it, but it wasn’t possible today,” she said.
A desolate India will now have to regroup in two days’ time to play the bronze medal match.
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