Tokyo: The Indian women’s hockey team fought valiantly against Germany in their Tokyo Olympics pool game. However, poor execution proved to be their undoing as the Indian eves lost 0-2 to Germany. It was a second consecutive setback for the side at the Tokyo Olympics here Monday.
After the 1-5 drubbing at the hands of World No.1, the Netherlands, the Indian eves lifted their game. However, it was not enough to get past World No.3 and Rio Games bronze medallists Germany in their second Pool A match.
The Indian team were guilty of wasting a lot of opportunities, including a penalty stroke by Gurjit Kaur in the third quarter. Luck also didn’t favour the Rani Rampal-led side.
Skipper Nike Lorenz (12th minute) and Anna Schroder (35th) were the goal scorers for Germany. It was their second win on the trot having beaten Great Britain 2-1 in their first match. Indian will play Great Britain in their next pool match Wednesday. To have any chance of qualifying for the quarterfinals, India will have to win the game.
The Germans started on a bright note and had most of the possession early on. However, India slowly and steadily made their presence felt in the match.
Germany had the first shot at the goal but India goalkeeper Savita was at the right place to deny Franzisca Hauke in the ninth minute. But three minutes later the Germans were not to be stopped as skipper Lorenz flicked the ball past Savita from their first penalty corner.
The Rani Rampal-led side upped their game by a notch and penetrated the German circle on a quite a few occasions. But what let them down was finishing and a brave and strong German defence as India went into half time trailing by a goal.
The Indians came out with purpose after the change of ends and looked threatening. They mounted attacks as the Germans got busy in defending their citadel. Vanadana Katariya had an excellent game as she created numerous chances for her side but the forward-line erred in finding the target.
Two minutes into the third quarter, it was Vandana who helped India secure their first penalty corner of the Games. Rani stepped up and her goalmouth strike hit the body of a German defender. India sought referral for a penalty stroke and duly got one. However, Gurjit failed to find the back of the net as her effort struck the side post.
The Germans punished India three minutes later. Schroder scored with a fierce hit from top right corner of the circle to double her side’s lead.
The Indians didn’t lose hope and continued their attacking play but they failed to penetrate the German defence. On two occasions, Vandana came close to scoring. First she was denied by the German keeper from a one-on-one situation with a brilliant save. Then her deflection from Navneet Kaur’s pass hit the top of the post in the 46th minute.