Indian women’s hockey team’s hopes of qualifying for Paris 2024 Olympics ended with a 1-0 loss to Japan in the bronze medal match of the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh AstroTurf Stadium here on Friday.
Kana Urata scored the decisive goal, successfully converting a Penalty Corner (PC) for Japan in the sixth minute.
India had the chance to seal its spot for Paris on Thursday as well but lost to Germany in a thrilling shootout in the semifinals while Japan suffered a 2-1 defeat against the USA in the other last-four fixture.
Indian coach Janneke Schopman felt the team lacked defensive solidity in the beginning but tried its best to fight back.
“We didn’t start well defensively and that sometimes can happen. But again, what I see is a team that fought back. We dominated the entire game after 1-0. You need to score a goal and we didn’t,” she said after the loss.
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“We probably haven’t played this dominant against Japan in the last three games we played against them, but this time we didn’t score and the other games we scored,” the Dutchwoman added.
India also had nine PCs but failed to convert any of them. Schopman admitted the team failed in the execution but also gave credit to Japan’s defense.
“Everyone talks about that (PCs). The Japanese goalkeeper made two mistakes against the USA yesterday. Germany got 15 penalty corners against Japan but didn’t score.
We didn’t execute perfectly but their penalty corner defense is good. They made two mistakes yesterday and otherwise, they would have been in the final because their goalkeeper messed up yesterday,” said Schopman.
Schopman also felt that the officiating was a bit inconsistent. “We had a little bit of a slow start, but I also thought the umpires were giving mixed signals. We were pushed off the ball.
They got penalty corners outside the circle. The same stuff happens in the third quarter and we don’t get a penalty corner. I’m frustrated with that sort of stuff but the girls tried their best,” said the 46-year-old old.
The failure to qualify for Paris comes as a significant blow for the Savita Punia-led side after the fourth-place finish in Tokyo in 2021. India had also made it to the Rio Olympics in 2016 but finished last.
“This tournament has been a roller coaster. This was our fifth final in seven days. We showed up, we tried and we didn’t make it. It’s going to hurt for a long time because when the Olympics is on the TV, we know we want to be there and I think we have the quality to be there,” said Schopman.
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