Mumbai: As the final hooter sounded, Savita Punia fidgeted with an advertisement board. Head bowed, holding back the tears. Nearby, her teammates did much less to hide their emotions as India’s commendable run at the Women’s Hockey World Cup notwithstanding, their semifinal hopes ended.
There was never any need for guesswork going into the match as Netherlands had taken care of all permutations and combinations. Hours earlier, three-time defending champions Netherlands scored a solid 4-1 win over China, reducing the Asian giants’ goal difference to -3. That result essentially meant the India-Australia match in Amstelveen was a virtual quarter-final.
Both teams were locked on the same -2 goal difference, but Australia had scored three goals to India’s two. It meant Australia needed at least a draw while India needed a win to get to the semi-final.
The Hockeyroos managed to do the least that was required of them, holding on to a goalless draw to move into the semi-final of the World Cup for the ninth time.
And there has not been much to separate the two teams at recent meetings in major tournaments. Australia won their semi-final at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in a shoot-off, but India had beaten Australia 1-0 in the quarter-final of the Tokyo Olympics.
Sjoerd Marijne was head coach of that India squad in Japan, as they exceeded all expectations to finish fourth. The Dutchman rejoined the team earlier this year, and once again India have punched above their weight at the World Cup.
The campaign began with the impressive 2-2 draw against reigning Olympic silver medallists China, and the group stage ended with the hard-fought goalless game against England – both higher ranked opponents.
And on Sunday, they were fighting for a chance to make it to the semi-final of a World Cup for only the second time, after reaching that stage at the inaugural tournament in 1974.
Needing a win, India began on the backfoot though as Australia dominated possession and created a majority of the chances – the Hockeyroos had 10 circle entries to India’s four in the first half.
In fact, Australia had the ball in the back of the Indian net in their first move at goal. But Grace Stewart’s shot from inside the shooting circle had struck Jyoti too high before it deflected off the Indian defender’s body and into the goal. India took the review and the goal was disallowed for danger.
Thereon, Australia worked hard to try and get a goal in a cagey first half that saw India, once again, defend with patience, discipline and dedication.
As the half progressed, India started to make a few forays into the Australian half, despite Navneet Kaur being kept rather quiet by Australia’s defenders. India earned its first penalty corner of the match with 21 seconds left of play.
It turned out to be a rather botched routine, but somehow the Indians managed to scramble the ball forward to Nikki Pradhan, who needed to get a clean connection from near-point-blank range. She fluffed her shot though, as the ball struck her foot before crawling into the Australia goal.
Australia began where they left off in the second half, holding most of the possession and spending more time in the India half while the Indians defended efficiently.
Then in the 40th minute, Australia again had the ball in the back of the Indian net. This time, the referee reviewed it and it was once again deemed dangerous play as Stephanie Kershaw’s shot saw the ball hit the shoulder of an Indian defender before going into goal.
That gave India a wake-up call as they started to push back by holding onto the ball a bit more. With 45 seconds left of the third quarter, India had another good chance. Baljeet Kaur’s cross from the right was inviting, especially with a good number of Indians waiting.
The ball came to Deepika Sehrawat, a player who has goals in her but has not quite asserted herself at the tournament. This was her chance, but her shot caught nothing but air.
A few minutes later, the ball was sent in from the right and sat up between Lalremsiami and Navneet. In a moment of indecision though, neither went for a shot and Australia cleared the danger.
With just under six minutes to go, India took off the goalkeeper in favour of a 11th outfielder. It was that last desperate attempt to get the goal they needed.
Then, with less than two minutes left on the clock came the penalty corner that could have decided the game. With no goalkeeper, five Indian players were padded up, and just as they had throughout the match, India defended it admirably.
Eventually, there was nothing to separate the teams because of two well-oiled and determined defences.
India will take pride and many positives from their performances in this World Cup. But they will also rue those many chances they failed to convert.
