Antwerp (Belgium): Their dream of booking a direct ticket to next year’s World Cup crushed after six consecutive losses in the European leg of Pro league, India are now hoping to conclude their campaign on a positive note with wins in their last two matches against Belgium.
The Indian men’s hockey team will take on world No.3 Belgium in consecutive matches here on Saturday and Sunday.
After a good outing in the home leg earlier this year, the Indian men entered the European leg with high hopes, but they had a horrendous outing instead.
The losses meant India slipped from third to the eighth and penultimate position in the nine-team standings. The winner of the Pro League will automatically qualify for the World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by Belgium and Netherlands.
Against Netherlands, India lost 1-2 and 2-3, followed by defeats against Argentina (2-3, 1-2) and Australia (2-3, 2-3).
It was not that India played badly throughout the European leg, but what cost them dearly was their perennial habit of conceding late goals.
The Indian defence crumbled under pressure at late stages, evidence of which was their opponents scoring most of their winners in the last 13 minutes of the match.
India’s senior players committed elementary mistakes when put under pressure.
Harmanpreet has stood tall in defence but the likes of Amit Rohidas and Sumit need to buckle up to support young goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Suraj Karkera.
The Indian forward line too needs to convert the chances that comes their way.
Cheif coach Craig Fulton would also be worried about the team’s penalty corner conversion rate, although Harmanpreet scored a few from them.
Women’s team also struggling
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The Indian women’s team has suffered four consecutive losses so far in London. They lost 2-3 and 1-2 against Australia, and went down 1-4 and 2-0 to Argentina.
However, under chief coach Harendra Singh, the women played fast-paced attacking hockey with sharp passes.
But they were found wanting in penalty corner conversions.
The women too will play Belgium in back-to-back matches on Saturday and Sunday, and will look for their first win in the European leg.
The team is currently placed seventh in the nine-team standings and will end their campaign with consecutive matches against China in Berlin on June 28 and 29.
