Semis drubbing leaves Savita's team with a lot to ponder
India's strikers ran into a sturdy backline while the defenders were bulldozed by a rampaging Chinese forwardline. This summed up Indian women's hockey semifinal outing against hosts China at the Asian Games on Thursday. The result: A 4-0 rout and the direct ticket to the Paris Olympics lost.
Throughout the pool phase of the competitions, India's shortcomings were masked by weak oppositions and some fine field goals. But the Chinese laid bare many chinks in their armour. Although there is still a bronze medal to be won, India's coach Janneke Schopman has a lot of work to do after a performance that highlighted lack of game awareness, tactical acumen and execution of their skill-sets.
A case in point: Six penalty corners went begging of which two made it to the goal but were disallowed as they were hit into the net. The hosts, on the other hand, converted three of the six penalty corners.
The Chinese, led admirably by Zixia Ou, systematically dismantled India's game plan. Their repeated attacks led to a soft midfield and defenders crumbled under pressure. The strikers, who had to often fall back to make up the numbers, failed to regroup quickly.
China dealt the opening blow in the 25th minute. They earned a penalty corner after Sushila Chanu fumbled in the circle and Zhong Jiaqi's flick entered the goal off first rusher Nikki Pradhan's stick. Meirong Zou doubled the lead with the Indian defenders again deflecting the ball home off a penalty corner.
Up until the latter half of the third quarter, India were not in the game. But when they began to press and attack Chinese goalkeepers - Jiao Ye and Xinhuan Li - took turns to thwart them. It didn't help India's cause that their formidable strike force lacked co-ordination and left vast gaps which were filled by the Chinese.
India also missed an opportunity to appeal for a penalty. The resultant counterattack ensured Meiyu Liang scored the third goal for the Chinese. And, with 18 seconds on the clock, China rubbed salt into India's wounds by converting a penalty corner.
