The Kookaburras will have the chance to meet Belgium again in the World League Finals tournament at the end of the year in India, which will also feature Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Argentina, India and Canada.
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Malaysia’s effort to boost the Asian challenge at the Olympic Games after Pakistan’s failure was hampered today when Ireland defeated them 4-2 in the play-off for the fifth place.
This was Britain’s biggest ever victory in a hockey worldwide against Indian men, the previous best being the 3-0 win at the Seoul Olympics in a preliminary round match before Britain went on to win the gold medal.
After losing a hard fought semifinal against Australia, the British faced a must-win situation in the third place playoff against India in order to secure qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Captain Ritu Rani knew this was her last chance to make the cut for the Olympics. Ireland enhanced their claim to play in the Olympic hockey competition for the first time in over 100 years.
An excited CR Kumar, Coach said, “We knew we had to be in the top five to stay in contention for the Rio Olympics”. We played against some of the higher ranking teams, which gave us insights on our shortcomings. There was the pressure of winning – we hurried the moves and nearly paid for it. But we learnt from it. Against Japan, we were patient, holding on to the ball and waiting for our chance. India created some ripple in the British circle in the 17th minute when Nikkin Thimmaiah picked up a long ball deep in the British territory and dribbled his way past a defender on the edge of the circle, but failed to have a clear look at the goal.
Goalkeeper Gucassoff frequently dived to the sides and leapt in the air to block goal-bound shots.
Wimbledon Hockey Club’s Alastair Brogdon was on the scoresheet for GB yesterday (Sunday) as they beat India 5-1 in the World Hockey League. The disclosures apparently have something to do with the reports that a group seven players had ganged up against the captain and team management and had even refused to start play in the crucial quarterfinal match against Great Britain.
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Brogdon deflected Dan Fox’s shot from a penalty corner to give Britain the lead on 11 minutes and Griffiths guided home Nick Catlin’s pass to double their advantage shortly before the half-hour mark. Everyone was aware that we had to safeguard the sole goal. “If we qualify for Rio it will be a dream come true”, Savita said after arriving here.
