Year of hits and big miss: Despite third-place finishes in Pro League and CWG, women's hockey team couldn't deliver at World Cup

Tribune News Service

Indervir Grewal

New Delhi, August 24

Leaving for Europe in early June, there was nervous excitement among the players and the coach of the Indian women’s hockey team. It was the beginning of an important phase for India, who had three important assignments lined up over the next two months.

It was a pretty long tour, there were ups and downs but it taught us a lot of things. The defeat against Australia in the semifinal was hard to accept, we lost our morale. I am proud of how we as a team showed great character and never gave up till the last minute Savita Punia, India coach

Finishing ninth (at the World Cup) was disappointing, but it was equally important to move ahead and focus on the Commonwealth Games Savita Punia, India captain

India began by securing an unexpected third-place finish in their debut Pro League season. Finishing behind the world’s top-2 teams, Argentina and Netherlands, raised the side’s profile, meaning India were included in the contenders’ list for the World Cup. However, while Netherlands and Argentina proved their billing by reaching the final, India slumped to a ninth-place finish.

5 India conceded first in five of their six matches. They scored first against New Zealand, but lost the game

3 India’s top-scorer was Vandana Katariya with three goals. Penalty corner specialists Gurjit Kaur and Deep Grace Ekka could manage just one goal each

The team redeemed itself by winning the Commonwealth Games bronze — its first medal at the Games after 16 years. However, India would feel that they wasted the opportunity of delivering at the World Cup, especially having found success at the Olympics. With the Asian Games postponed to next year, the World Cup was the team’s highest priority for the year. India, though, failed to peak at the right time.

Peaking issue

Starting afresh after the monumental success at the Tokyo Olympics was never going to be easy for the team. The fourth-place finish meant the expectation levels were only going to rise.

The team had to start their next phase under a new chief coach, Janneke Schopman. The break from international hockey was extended after India were forced to pull out of December’s Asian Champions Trophy due to Covid cases in the team.

Understandably, the team looked rusty in its first tournament of the year, finishing third in the Asia Cup. They gained momentum in the Pro League, racking up wins in the home leg from late January to April. However, they struggled to find their stride after the two-month break. They had a mixed show in their six-game European leg of the Pro League in June, with two defeats to Belgium and a shootout win over Argentina.

Ten days after their final Pro League fixture, India played their first match at the World Cup. They started with 1-1 draws against England and China. There was a sense that India’s campaign was going to pick up pace after the hard-fought draws, but it only spiralled downwards. They lost 2-3 to New Zealand but just about qualified for the knockouts on better goal difference. Looking to reach the quarterfinals for the second straight time, they lost their crossover match 0-1 to Spain. They beat Canada in the shootout and Japan 3-1, their first win in regulation time, to finish ninth.

Not scoring goals

India’s game is such that success depends largely on discipline in execution. They don’t control the games with possession dominance like England, Spain, Germany or New Zealand. They don’t have the attacking ability of Netherlands or Argentina to create chances at will. Staying firm in defence and converting their chances are two major factors for success. At the World Cup, India struggled in both these aspects. In six games, they scored nine goals, while conceding eight.

With only a 12-day gap between the World Cup and the CWG, India’s problems didn’t go away in Birmingham. They scored 14 goals in six matches, including 5-0 and 3-1 wins over lowly Ghana and Wales, respectively, but also conceded eight goals. India barely got past Canada (3-2), a team ranked five places below them, to qualify for the semifinals.

Their fighting loss to Australia in the semifinals and the shootout win over New Zealand in the bronze medal match somewhat papered over the cracks. Both Australia and New Zealand were low on match practice. Covid restrictions in the two countries meant that the World Cup was their first tournament since the Olympics. Yet, both Australia and New Zealand peaked at the right time to finish third and fifth, respectively, at the World Cup. Peaking again at the CWG, in such a short time, would have been very difficult. In comparison, England had struggled at the World Cup just like India, finishing eighth. But they went on to win their first CWG title after beating Australia 2-1 in the final.

Mental strength

However, these factors don’t diminish India’s CWG achievement. They showed great resolve to find a late equaliser against Australia, who had conceded just three goals at the World Cup, in the semifinal. The controversial loss in the shootout meant they had to pick themselves up for the third-place playoff.

They did exactly that to grab the medal. Going forward, though, India need to raise their game if they want to win next year’s Asian Games and qualify for the 2024 Olympics.

India at World Cup

Results

Pool matches

Drew 1-1 vs England

Drew 1-1 vs China

Lost 2-3 vs New Zealand

Crossover

Lost 0-1 vs Spain

9th place classification

Won 1-1 (3-2 in shootout) vs Canada

Won 3-1 vs Japan

Stats

Played GF GA

6 9 8

Read under matches played, goals for and goals against

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