Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Aug. 13: After ending their group stage with a 2-2 draw against Canada, Indian men’s hockey team skipper PR Sreejesh said his side are fully geared up both mentally and physically for their quarter-finals clash against Belgium, which is slated to be held on Sunday.
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World Hockey League (0-1 in December) and the Champions Trophy (1-2 in June this year).
In Pool B, U.S. and Great Britain will meet to decide who takes top spot and sets up a meeting with the team that finishes fourth in Pool A. However, the first match of the day has the most riding on it, with fourth-placed Argentina taking on India, who sit two points further back in fifth.
The victor of Great Britain and Spain would play New Zealand in the semi-final on Wednesday.
Leading 2-1, India were dominating the proceedings but they conceded an unnecessary penalty corner to the Candians in the last 10 minutes of the fourth quarter.
Among other quarter-finals, reigning World champions Australia will face the Netherlands in a hockey treat as the two top ranked teams in world hockey go head-to-head in a re-match of the 2014 World Cup final. The result left Die Danas third in the standings, but they would not know their final placement until the end of the day.
He, however, was quick to admit that the mood in the Indian team camp was upbeat and the men are excited to be part of the quarter-final line-up. “Such is the nature of modern hockey that any team can win on any given day – reputations or rankings don’t matter”, quips Pargat, who did paint a concern area over the lack of field goals.
The Americans, however, could not score a single goal from the penalty corner.
Roelant Oltmans, who is the team’s high performance director and head coach, could not give a definitive answer when asked about the extent of Sunil’s injury.
The women conclude their pool stage on Saturday, with China, Spain, Argentina, India and Japan vying for the last two quarterfinal berths.
From there on, the Argentines took the game by the scruff of the neck, with a flurry of goals, from Granatto (23′), Rebecchi (26′), Agustina Albertarrio (27′) before Cavallero scored her second (29′). While defeat for India ended their hopes of Olympic glory, it was a welcome return to form for the 2016 Champions Trophy winners after losing three of their previous four matches.
India now 7 points with 2 win and 2 draws and 2 loses and move to third rank in the group. Argentina and Ireland are at fourth and fifth positions respectively.
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The Americans had been a second-half team throughout pool play, and they looked ready to produce another strong effort. Spain made it to the quarterfinals in Rio by coming from behind against South Korea and then holding on to win 3-2.
