It’s not typically that the conqueror seems extra disillusioned than the vanquished.
Raul Ehren, the Dutch coach, was disconsolate that his group didn’t play as much as its lofty requirements. His Indian counterpart Harendra Singh appeared upbeat that, for lengthy spells, his gamers ‘troubled’ the Netherlands and that their sport plan was ‘nicely executed’. The gamers from each groups, as they trudged again to their dug-outs, mirrored their coaches feelings.
Going purely by the body-language, it will have been tough for the uninitiated to inform the winner from the loser. For the report, it was the Netherlands who received 4-2. A scoreline flattering for a lot of however ‘problematic’ for the Dutch.
Then, the context too would have been misplaced on most.
This was a battle of unequals. A match between a group that didn’t qualify for final yr’s Olympics and hasn’t ever performed a World Cup semifinal in opposition to a facet that has — take a deep breath — received the World Cups in 2006, 2014, 2018 and 2022, the Olympics in 2008, 2012, 2020 and 2024, the European Championships in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023 and the Professional League 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
A milestone second for Savita as she earned her three hundredth cap!
Although victory eluded us our women gave it their all.
Swipe by one of the best moments from tonight’s sport!#FIHProLeague #HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame
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.@CMO_Odisha @Sports_Odisha @IndiaSports @Media_SAI @FIH_Hockey pic.twitter.com/elwpAh3O6X— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) February 24, 2025
In different phrases, there’s the Netherlands on the high, a yawning hole in between, adopted by seven different international locations after which India at 9. There’s extra disparaging stats, however these ought to suffice.
So, earlier than the 2 groups met for the primary time on this new Olympic cycle, Harendra had a easy message for his gamers. “I advised them, ‘Push them laborious, quantity 1-ranked groups don’t prefer to be pushed round.’”
His gamers did simply that.
The night time started on an emotional observe: a big tifo of Savita Punia unfurled from the stands celebrating her three hundredth worldwide look, solely the second Indian to succeed in this milestone after Vandana Kataria. Savita obtained misty-eyed as she was felicitated earlier than the anthems however the ruthless Dutch had been in no temper to play ball.
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It took solely seven minutes for Emma Reijnen to breach Savita’s objectives and for a second, it appeared like the previous India captain’s massive night time can be ruined by a 5-plus objective hammering that was so frequent not too way back.
However India, considerably unexpectedly, got here again sturdy exhibiting glimpses of their strong present from two evenings in the past after they defeated Germany by a objective.
Salima Tete managed the tempo within the midfield. Lalremsiami and Sushila Chanu barked directions on the youthful gamers round her — and so they had been many — telling them to shuffle proper, then left, press ahead and retreat when the ball was misplaced.
The ball moved from stick-to-stick with precision and moved ahead in cohesion. That they had the Dutch on the backfoot — a novel feeling for them — and beneath that strain, they crumbled. India racked up one circle entry after one other however didn’t have anybody to transform it right into a objective.
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It’s a component Harendra lamented. “We’re doing nicely to create probabilities. However one factor we will do higher is scoring objectives,” he mentioned after the match. This was within the backdrop that India, regardless of giving all the pieces they’d, ended up misplaced by a two-goal margin.
A gesture of respect for a real legend!
Watch as our gamers bow in honor of Savita on her unimaginable 300-match milestone.#FIHProLeague #HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame
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.@CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha @IndiaSports @sports_odisha @FIH_Hockey pic.twitter.com/SrhtQ9u8f3— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) February 24, 2025
However with the circle entries they managed, India no less than earned plenty of penalty corners — 13 to be precise. India have all the time had bother changing PCs and to know why, Harendra took his drag-flickers to a biomechanics skilled, who analysed the proportion of muscular tissues getting used through the drag-flicks and the way they can be utilized higher.
Primarily based on the end result of these checks, the coaching modules of the sparkles had been altered. It is likely to be too quickly to attract a conclusion, however the early indicators have been encouraging.
India scored from a few PCs of their first match of the Professional League and on Monday, the 2 objectives they scored had been each from corners, with Udita scoring a brace. There might nicely have been a 3rd however Deepika’s thunderous flick hit the crossbar, denying her a much-deserved objective.
The Dutch didn’t create a lot however from the few photographs they managed, they scored. And received. “India had 14 penalty corners in six video games and immediately, we gave away 12 (13). If that’s occurring to you as Olympic champion, then both you’re doing one thing unsuitable, or they’re doing one thing proper. As we speak, it was a case of each,” an upset Ehren mentioned. “It was a poor efficiency.”
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Playacting known as out
The Indian males misplaced 2-3 to England later as the 2 groups dished out one other traditional. However the match noticed a uncommon occasion the place a participant was known as out for play appearing on the massive display by the TV umpire.
Within the third quarter, Sam Ward, England’s report goalscorer, was vying for the ball with Sukhjeet Singh contained in the English ‘D’. Ward went down dramatically holding his face, a lot to the shock of Sukhjeet who appeared shocked. England then requested for a overview, alleging intentional harmful play.
However when the replay was proven on the massive display, Ward was left red-faced. It confirmed him going to the bottom with out a lot contact, triggering laughs from the stands, dug-out and even the gamers on area. Ward sheepishly appeared across the walked away from the gang and his embarrassment deepened when the TV umpire not solely rejected England’s accusation of harmful play however mentioned on the mic: “No harmful play, over-reaction from No. 13.”