The tie breaker in the hockey Championship Trophy deprived India of victory in the final match despite putting their most impressive foot forward.
In the Rabobank Men’s Hockey Championship Trophy that concluded on July 1 in Breda, The Netherlands, India lost a game they had nearly won. In what is being billed as one of Indian hockey’s best performances, India, appearing aggressive and taking possession of the ball for good length of time, reached a 1-1 draw against Australia’s hockey team, also known as the Kookaburras, but this was one of those events where even the best isn’t enough. Their best wasn’t good enough to upstage the Kookaburras -- the world champions -- who defended the title which they had won two years ago with a 3-1 win through a penalty shoot-out.
Australia took control of the game in its 24th minute via a penalty corner conversion by Blake Govers, whereas India drew parity in the 42nd minute by Vivek Sagar Prasad’s field strike.
Although before the final clash, it seemed that the Indian team was well-prepared for this high-stakes game. Captain and goalkeeper P. R. Sreejesh posted a video message outlining the importance of an India vs Australia final as well as the preparedness of the team, with their past mistakes kept well in mind.
Hockey great and veteran, triple Olympian, Balbir Singh Sr. also posted a video message before the summit clash to boost the team’s confidence.
This is the record 15th win for Australia in hockey whereas India had to make do with a silver medal in the tournament. The hosts, despite defeating current Olympic champions, Argentina 2-0, settled for a bronze medal.
Listen to this feature in Punjabi here.
