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The Indian men's hockey team were outplayed by Australia by a mile and settled for the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 (CWG 2022) in Birmingham on Monday, August 8.
India were reduced to mere spectators as Australia went on a goal scoring spree, putting seven past a hapless Indian attack in a lopsided CWG 2022 final. India could not even score a single goal in the final.
Blake Govers (9'), Nathan Ephraums (14', 42'), Jacob Anderson (22', 27'), Tom Wickham (26') and Flynn Ogilvie (46') made merry as the Indians looked cluless against a stinging Australian attack.
It was Australia's seventh gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. India's dominant performances in the group stages and the semi-finals were the positives that the team can take takeaway from the campaign.
Australia pound India
Australia got off the blocks at rampaging pace, pushing the Indian defenders from the word go. Though India survived the onslaught in the initial few minutes, Australia were quick to snatch a 1-0 lead when they earned a third penalty corner of the match in just the ninth minute.
Blake Govers was on target this time, beating PR Sreejesh to the goal. The defending champions soon extended their lead in the 14th minute when Nathan Ephraums scored through a rebound off a good pass.
Also read: CWG 2022: Sathiyan Gnanasekaran battles to win bronze medal in men's singles
While the Australian attackers displayed sublime form and coordination, their defense ensured India found no space in the circle to create any scoring opportunity.
Even as the Indian attackers struggled to find a breakthrough, Australia went on to pump three more goals in the second quarter through Jacob Anderson (22', 27') and Tom Wickham (26') as India were left pondering.
Australia did not reduce their intensity after the break but all chances of scoring a goal quickly evaporated as a water-tight defense caught the Indians in the web.
Mandeep Singh and Abhishek worked on some good variations but nothing came of it. Manpreet soon walked off the pitch having dealt a massive blow to his right shoulder, compounding India's woes.
Hardik Singh and Nilakanta Sharma took on the onus to free up space in midfield to help the forwards surge ahead but were undone by a tactical defensive structure deployed by Australia.
Australia increased their lead to 7-0 in the final quarter through Ephraums and Flynn Ogilvie as they capped up a sublime performance in CWG 2022.
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