Hockey World League: India hockey eves inflicted 1-7 drubbing by Germany

The Indian hockey eves showed signs of marked improvement in their match against Belgium after their 0-7 pounding at the hands of 3rd ranked New Zealand in the tournament opener.

The performance of the 12th ranked Indian eves, especially in the second half against 13th ranked Belgium lent credence to the belief that the team was beginning to find its feet after a forgettable display against the Black Sticks women.

But on Sunday, things were back to square one as the Indian eves put up another downbeat performance and were inflicted a demoralizing 1-7 defeat by 5th ranked Germany.

The all-black brigade seemed to have taken the lead in the 5th minute when Lydia Hasse deflected home but the goal was disallowed after the third umpire upheld India’s call for a video referral.

The Germans were further kept at bay when Indian goalkeeper Savita foiled their first penalty corner opportunity.

They finally went up 1-0 in the 14th minute when Janne Muller converted their second short corner.

Maike Stockel extended the lead in the 21th minute with her third goal of the tournament.

Marie Mavers sounded the board at the stroke of half-time to make the scoreline 3-0.

Lillima Minz helped India force their first penalty corner, and Vandana Katariya made the most of it deflecting home to reduce the margin in the 43rd minute.

Within a minute of India scoring, Germany added another to their tally when Maike Stockel capitalized on a strong counter-attack for her second goal for the day.

Germany buttressed the lead in the 49th minute when Jennifer Plasse scored off their fourth short corner after Savita had made a save on the first opportunity.

The rampaging Germans made it 6-1 in the 54th minute when Lydia Hasse scored from close range.

They rounded off the tally scoring the seventh goal with four minutes remaining on the clock as Hannah Kruger converted their fifth short corner.

It may be worth recalling that the Indian women had earlier given a good account of themselves in the Hockey World League Round 2 tournament held in New Delhi last February. Indian eves thumped Kazakhstan 8-0 in their opening match.

They pulverized Fiji 10-0 in their second tie before accounting for Malaysia 3-0.

India eves lost 1-3 to Japan in penalty shootout after being locked 2-2 in regulation time. They edged out Russia by a solitary goal to wrap up their campaign on a decent note.

India and ninth-ranked Japan qualified from the New Delhi event.