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The Indian team finished 8th in the last World Cup. This time around, they did not have a good outing and are playing for a 9th place playoff against Korea. The Indian hockey federation must look for solutions for an improvement in the team’s performance going forward.
The expectations of the fans were very high prior to the start of the World Cup. India played well in the early part of the tournament despite conceding late goals against England & Belgium. The penalty conversion rate of India has been poor and the passing has not been upto the mark.
They missed a lot of chances against Spain and had to be content with a 1-1 draw. The only victory in the tournament came against Malaysia when they beat them 3-2.
In their last match, India were outclassed by Australia and finished 5th in the group. The positives to come out of the tournament have been the performances of Akshadeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, SV Sunil and Sreejesh. Captain Sardara Singh handled the team well.
Meanwhile South Korea also finished 5th in their group after winning none of their matches. They lost four times and drew once to come out with just one point in the group stage.
The Indian team must reflect on their performance in the tournament, and train hard for the upcoming Asian games and the Commonwealth games.
