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The Indian women suffered a heartbreaking 0-1 defeat to Japan in the bronze-medal match of the Olympic Hockey Qualifiers thus ending their hopes of qualifying for Paris 2024.
The Indians came tantalizingly close to earning an Olympic spot before going down to Germany in sudden death in the semifinals on Thursday, January 18.
The Japanese, coached by former India international Jude Menezes, defended in numbers after scoring early. The Indians, meanwhile, failed to make the most of nine penalty corners that came their way at the Olympic Hockey Qualifiers on January 19.
Both teams paid early visits to the opposition circle with the Japanese winning two short corners. Kana Urata scored off the second PC in the sixth minute even as the ball slipped past Savita Punia in goal.
The Japanese came dangerously close to doubling the lead in the 11th minute while a diving Lalremsiami failed to latch on to one at the goalmouth at the other end of the pitch.
The Indians manufactured a PC in the 17th minute but Japanese rusher Hasuki Nagai denied Deepika before the Indian drag-flicker was slightly off-target with another short corner immediately after.
Salima Tete sprinted in from the right flank to force a short corner which was stopped by the Japanese goalkeeper five minutes into the third quarter.
The Red Shirts crowded the defence denying the home side maneuverable space in the danger zone while not attempting to increase their one-goal lead. The Indians, on the other hand, wasted a flurry of PCs during their Olympic Hockey Qualifiers bronze-medal game.
A fourth penalty corner came India's way with Hazuki Nagai taking Udita's slap shot on her body before the follow-up PC was well-defended. Navneet Kaur won a short corner at the end of the third quarter but the ball wasn't trapped properly.
Relentless pressure from the Indians resulted in more short corners early in the final quarter of the Olympic Hockey Qualifiers which failed to come off.
Akio Tanaka saved what would have been a certain goal but gave away a penalty corner with nine minutes left on the clock. The hosts earned another short corner after the first was defended on the line.
The Japanese hung on to their one-goal lead to book a spot at the Olympic Games alongside Germany and the USA as the top three sides at the Olympic Hockey Qualifiers.
India fail to earn third consecutive Olympic berth following Olympic Hockey Qualifiers defeat to Japan
The Indian women first played at the Olympics back in Moscow in 1980 finishing fourth out of a total of six teams after a US-led boycott resulted in several nations withdrawing from the event.
India earned the right to participate in the 2016 Rio Olympics after finishing fifth at the 2014-15 FIH World League Semifinals.
Interestingly, Sjoerd Marijne was the coach of the Netherlands team that beat India 7-0 in the quarterfinals at Antwerp.
A nerve-wracking win over the USA in a two-legged Hockey Olympics Qualifiers in 2019 cleared the path for the Marijne's chargers to travel to Tokyo.
After beating the USA by a 5-1 margin in the first leg, the Indians lost the second match 1-4 but managed to qualify for the Tokyo Games where they nearly scripted history by finishing fourth.
