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The Indian hockey team's 3-match winning streak ended at the 2021 Olympics after they were beaten 5-2 by world champions Belgium in the semi-finals of the competition. The loss means that India's hopes of winning Olympic gold in hockey after 41 years are over.
India were in the contest for three quarters of the game with the scores level at 2-2. However, the momentum shifted in favor of Belgium in the last quarter. The World No. 2 team secured 5 consecutive penalty corners and sealed the game 5-2.
Check Out: Tokyo Olympics 2021 Schedule
In the last few minutes, India needed a numeric advantage to attack the Belgian goal and they subbed off their keeper PR Sreejesh to facilitate that. With no keeper to protect the goal, the Belgians attacked India with an aerial pass in the dying seconds of the match and bagged the 5th goal to complete their victory.
India, who scored 2 goals through Harmanpreet and Mandeep Singh, led the game during the 2nd quarter. They had ample opportunities to score even after that and would be ruing the missed chances.
Check Out: Tokyo Olympics Hockey Schedule
Highlighting his team's performance at the end of the match, Indian coach Graham Reid said:
“We created enough opportunities to win that game. We didn’t get that scoreboard pressure on them. They’re the world’s best team so we had to build on the scoreboard and we didn’t do that. So, you pay the price for that. Their corners worked for them today.”
The turning point for the Indian hockey team
In the last quarter, the game seemed to turn against India. The scoreline that read 2-2 turned to 5-2 in a matter of minutes. Belgium had a numeric advantage in the 4th quarter after India's captain Manpreet Singh was awarded a green card. When asked about the green card being the turning point of the match, Reid said:
“Team nowadays are much more switched on when their opposition is a man down and they took advantage of that. That can be seen as the turning point. [In a big match] You’ve to keep 11 players on the pitch. Hockey is about gaining and keeping the momentum. They scored after the green card and we lost the momentum. Against a team like Belgium, it is very difficult to get that back.”
However, he added that a hockey match is a game of four quarters and what happens during the entire duration has an effect on the result. He said:
“People look at one turning point but that’s not always the case. When you get multiple opportunities and don’t put them away you suffer. Everyone looks at just the last quarter, but a game can be decided earlier as well. And we didn’t put the chances.”
Graham Reid also highlighted the importance of putting the team first and moving on from this loss. He added that it is important to be ready for the players when India play their bronze medal match in two days against either Australia or Germany. Speaking about the recovery process and the next match, Reid said:
“We’ve started already [recovering from this loss]. I always go with a team-first mentality. I say if you’re feeling sorry, you’re feeling sorry for yourself and that’s not team-first mentality. That is my approach. You need to get your head up and go for that bronze.”
On who Reid would like as their next opponent, Reid added:
“It doesn’t matter. We have got a bit of a revenge to take from Australia, also with Germany. But to win the bronze you have to be the 3rd best team, so we’ll have to beat whoever we face. We don’t’t have any preference.”
India must look to bounce back from this loss and focus on the bronze medal match. The Olympic Games are a funny business. One poor quarter and a team could be out of the tournament even more so in knockout competitions. India learned that today.
The hopes of a gold medal might be over, but after waiting for 41 years, the hockey fanatics back in India would love to see their team return with a bronze at least.
Also read - India at Olympics 2021
