Barely 12 hours after leading India to 3-1 win over New Zealand in a must-win Group B match in the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers, captain and goalkeeper Savita Punia was back at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh AstroTurf Stadium here on Monday.
Savita, along with backup goalkeeper Bichu Devi Kharibam, had a light one-hour practice session with coach Janneke Schopman playing the role of the striker.
India had lost 1-0 to the USA in its opening match while New Zealand won 3-0 against Italy. With the Americans beating Italy 2-0 on Sunday, a draw against the Black Sticks would have seriously jeopardised India’s chances of qualifying for the semifinals while a defeat would have meant the end of the road for the host.
“When we arrived at the stadium yesterday, we knew that it was a do-or-die match against New Zealand. It didn’t matter to us how New Zealand plays.We had to set our own level,” said Savita.
India had a dream start against New Zealand as Neha took a quick free hit for the 23-metre line before passing the ball to Salima Tete who entered the shooting circle from the right and squared it to Jyoti at the near post. While Jyoti could not control the ball, Sangita Kumari shot it through the gap between New Zealand goalkeeper Grace O’Hanlon and the post. The women in blue had scored within 40 seconds of the push back.
Savita felt the same aggression was missing against the USA. “We did not play to our strengths against the USA. Our style is to attack and we did not do that in the first half against them. When we changed our approach, we got opportunities. Had we converted those, the score could have been different,” said the 33-year-old.
One of the three goals against New Zealand also came via a Penalty Corner. India had seven PCs against the Americans and failed to make use of any of them. Against the Black Sticks, the number was five but India had done its homework and managed to score one from the top of the circle. “Every team is facing issues with PC conversion since the turf is a bit bouncy but we had studied New Zealand’s PC defence. We saw a gap between the goalkeeper and the defender at the post after their first rusher would leave. We went for it and it worked,” said the Indian captain.
India is third in its group, tied with second-placed New Zealand on points and goal difference but trailing based on goals scored (New Zealand - 4, India - 3). With New Zealand facing USA first on Tuesday, India will know exactly what it needs to do against Italy later in the day to qualify for the semifinals.
“Since we are a good team, maybe we expect a bit too much from ourselves and that puts pressure on us. That’s why we want to take it one match at a time,” said Savita.
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