The Indian women’s hockey team were handed their third defeat on the trot as the lost 0-3 to the United States. India, who came into the game ranked 12th, were again thoroughly outclassed by their higher ranked opponents as the American dominated the proceedings right from the get go to eke out a comfortable victory.
A brace from the ever impressive Kathleen Bam added by a late score from Melissa Gonzales was enough to see the Americans to their fourth consecutive win in Group B as they hardly ever hit top gear.
The first quarter saw the Indian girls start with much more fervour than we have seen from them in recent games. However, they were never in control of the game with the Indian play littered with missed traps, errant passes, and miscommunication. However, the American looked shabby themselves on a number of occasions as they failed to capitalise on their domination.
However, with 1 minute and 11 seconds left to go in the quarter, Kathleen Bam danced into the Indian D and helped the US to a deserved lead, striking the ball past a hapless Savita.
India were again given a scare at the beginning of the second as Kathleen Bam wasted two golden opportunities to put the Americans further in front. And the US were nearly made to pay as a few moments later a rare Indian attack saw Rani Rampal’s fine attempt on goal blocked by her own player Preity Dubey, denying India an equalizer.
The pressure on India’s goal, however, continued as USA were rewarded with 3 penalty corners in the quarter. Rachel Dawson, though remained scoreless in the tournament as she wasn’t able to double USA’s lead. And that’s how the first half ended.
More of the same in the second half
The second half started on the same note with the Americans being awarded another penalty corner to begin with. However, the American yet again failed to make merry. The Indians did enjoy a couple of penetrations. However, their moments of joy were few and far between.
The American’s pressure finally paid off when Kathleen Bamm scored her second of the game, scoring a solo goal on the counter. This was infact her fifth goal in the last two games.
The fourth quarter began with a green card to Rani Rampaul. And India’s woes were compunded even further when Melissa Gonzales put the Americans 3 goals in front and secured the win as the Indians were again hit on the counter. While India enjoyed a brief spell of possesion at the end with USA going down to 10 in the last 4 minutes, Sunita Chanu and co. were never really into the game.
Neil Hawgood’s girls came into the game in last place in Group B and will remain their after the end of this game. Their spirits were lifted when they made a spirited comeback from 2 goals down to draw against Japan in their opener. However, their fairytale was handed a very short life.
The Indians came into the game at the back end of a couple of devastating results. After losing 3-0 to Great Britain, the Blueskirts were handed a 6-1 mauling by the Aussies. Another 0-3 loss wasn’t something that the Indian camp would have envisaged, but the frankly reality is that they were completely outclassed.
At no moment did the Blueskirts looked like getting anything out of the game as they gave away three goals and nine penalty corners to go down tamely yet again.
However, surprisingly the Indians still have a mathematical chance of qualifying. A win against Argentina in their final game should be enough to see the Indians through to the final eight. However going by the looks of things, the chances of that are pretty slim.
But for now, one has to remember that this is the first time the women have qualified for the Olympics in 36 years, and while such tame defeats might not have been called for, they are still way below the level of the top nations. There are ways to go for them to reach their and this experience should come in handy for them going into the future.
It will be crucial for both the team management and the seniors to be around the youngsters and not let them feel as if they don’t belong here.
