Following a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Germany in a penalty shootout in the semi-final, India now faces Japan in the third-place match on Friday.
India’s quest to win the FIH Women’s Olympic Qualifiers ended on Thursday following a 4-3 loss to Germany on penalties. Roared on by the boisterous home crowd in Ranchi, Team India held off several attacks from the Germans in the first quarter.
As the quarter went on, the home side grew in confidence and began to dominate proceedings. And India’s efforts were rewarded in the dying moments of the first quarter as Deepika found the back of the net.
Bolstered by Deepika’s goal, India took the attack to Germany at the beginning of the second quarter. However, the German defence held firm and were relentless in their pursuit of an equalizer. Their efforts paid off when Charlotte Stapenhorst capped off a brilliant field goal.
Germany took control of proceedings in the second half and forced India to play on the counterattack. As the game went on, the Indian defence began to tire and the Germans took advantage of it as they took a 2-1 lead in the 57th minute. But the Indian team managed to equalise with three minutes of regulation time through Ishika Chaudhary who scored from a penalty corner/
As the game went into a penalty shootout, Indian skipper Savita Punia made two crucial saves to put India in a commanding position. However, misses from Navneet Kaur and Neha ensured that India could not take advantage of the situation. In sudden death, Sangita and Sonika missed their penalties to seal India’s defeat.
Looking back at the result, Indian coach Janneke Schopman termed it a tough pill to digest for the Indian team and added that they will have to show up against Japan on Friday. Looking forward to the Japan game, Schopman said, “We know Japan well. So, we’ll go back to the drawing board to make a plan for the Japan game, making sure that we can execute our press well, that we can move the ball. Well, today we struggled a little bit at times and I think we got ourselves lost to the USA in the semi-finals.”
