London: India hockey team after suffering three consecutive defeats is out of the London Olympics and the team will play for pride when they will take on South Korea on Sunday. Indian hockey team’s performance has dropped with each passing match and they will be hoping against hope to have a good match against a tough South Korean team.
South Korea on the other hand is at number three position in the group and their chances for qualifying for the semi-finals also look meek. They had a good start as they defeated the ‘Black Sticks’ but have lost their way from there. They lost their match against the defending champions Germany and suffered a shocking defeat against Belgium.
India in their last match played terrible hockey against Germany and lost 2-5. India at one point looked good when they leveled the score at 1-1, but then lost the plot from there. They were out-run and out-classed by their opponents in all departments.
Michael Nobbs’ team which has been working very hard on their fitness from quite a long time could not match the level set by the Germans. Indian defenders looked lost against the German strikers and Indian strikers panicked whenever they had the ball.
Even the star Indian drag-flicker, Sandeep Singh was disappointing to say the least. He got a number of opportunities in the second-half but he failed to convert any of the short-corners.
India has so far conceded 11 goals in the tournament and has found the plank only five times. It was a known fact that for India to win a medal in hockey was very difficult, but no one thought that India will surrender so easily.
Indian team has some world-class players but none of them has been impressive. Sardar Singh who is one of the best mid-fielders in the world is also not in good form and whenever he has not found support whenever he has looked to make a move.
The trio of Shivender-Sunil-Tushar which looked almost unstoppable in the Olympic qualifiers has looked very weak and their passing has been awful.
If India wants to finish in the top six then they will have to win their remaining two matches but going by the way the team is playing it looks highly improbable.
Indian team will be looking to end their campaign on a high. It will be heart-breaking for a hockey fan to see the team which ruled the Olympics for so many years struggling so badly in the tournament.
By Indian Sports News Network
