On the eve of India's semifinal match against Germany in FIH Hockey Junior World Cup, coach CR Kumar had spoken about the need for clinical execution of plans. The strategies remained on paper, as Uttam Singh and team went down 1-4 to Germany in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
The Indian colts haven't beaten the Germans since 2016 and on a day when there were ample opportunities for course correction, they fell woefully short in getting their basics right.
On Saturday, Germany face France for the title while India take on Spain in the third-place playoff game. In the other semifinal, France defeated Spain 3-1.
In the first minute of the contest, India frittered away a penalty corner, that was one among the 11 more they earned and wasted. The planning of penalty corners was pedestrian with stopping of the ball being the primary drawback.
Germany, on the other hand, earned two and finished with a cent percent success rate.
The Die Honamas juniors' game was an exhibition of precision and planning. After India's initial domination of ball control, the Germans took over and a shabby pass by Uttam in the midfield allowed the opposition to counter. Liam Holdermann, who beat the defenders, took the first shot at the goal, which was blocked by goalkeeper HS Mohith. After Aron Flatten's failed attempt, Ben Hasbach found the mark. India found the equaliser three minutes later with Sudeep Chirmako pulling out Nnaji Joshua before slapping the ball across the goal. As India continued to pass up on penalty corners, in the dying moments of the second quarter, the Germans earned their first penalty corner courtesy an infringement by Amandeep Lakra. Hasbach completed his brace on a rebound.
India's defence inside the circle was one of the grey areas on the day and that resulted in the Germans stretching their lead with Paul Glander's shot at the goal off a penalty corner entering the goal off Vishnukant Singh's stick.
In the final quarter, Germany left nothing to chance. With two minutes to go for the hooter, Florian Sperling rubbed salt into the wound by exposing India's defensive lapses and slotting the ball home.
Results (semis): Germany 4 (Ben Hasbach 8, 30; Paul Glanders 41, Florian Sperling 58) bt India 1 (Sudeep Chirmako 11); France 3 (Brieuc Delemazure 2, Stanislas Branicki 33, Louis Haertelmeyer 42) bt Spain (Aleix Bozal 15)
