GUANGZHOU: A listless India finished a disappointing fourth in the women’s hockey event of the Asian Games after going down to Japan 0-1 via golden goal in the bronze medal play-off match at the Aoti hockey field here today.
India, who claimed the bronze four years ago in Doha, were buried by Keiko Manabe’s 78th minute golden goal after both the sides failed to break the deadlock in regulation time.
With this win, Doha Games silver medalist Japan has managed to avoid the ignominy of finishing out of the medal bracket.
The Indians, on the other hand, will be a disappointed lot and will return home empty handed after failing to defend their Doha bronze.
The win also ensured a clean slate for Japan against India in the quadrennial event after having beaten the Surinder Kaur-led side 3-0 in the group stages.
In the bronze medal play-off tie today, the Indians displayed far from impressive hockey as Japan controlled the proceedings from the word go.
On more than one occasion, the Indians were undone by poor trapping and some sloppy defensive work, which resulted in as many as 10 penalty corners for Japan out of which they converted one.
To add to it, there was no co-ordination between the Indian midfield and forward line and the girls were guilty of unnecessarily holding on to the ball.
If not for Indian custodian Dipika Murthy, Japan could have sealed the match in their favor in regulation time.
Dipika was outstanding under the bar as she came up with a number of brilliant saves to keep the fast-moving Japanese at bay during the regular 70 minutes.
The Indians, on the defensive for the most part, depended on counters to make their forays into the rival area but the disjointed efforts did not pose serious threat to the Japanese goal.
Japan commenced the match on an attacking note by earning two penalty corners in the first five minutes but both failed to bear fruit. . Midway through the half, India earned first of their two penalty corners when skipper Surinder Kaur’s centre from the right hit a defender’s leg, but their routine was very predictable and lacked any surprise element.
In the 20th minute, Dipika made the first of quite a few good saves, by blocking in time a shot at the goal taken from close range by Kana Nagayama.
In the second half in the space of three minutes Dipika effected two timely saves to keep the slate clean.
In the 58th minute, she blocked a goal-bound deflection by Aki Mitsuhashi and conceded a corner and then was alert to fend off another danger following a quick cut-in from the right of the circle by Nagayama.
The Japanese earned three short corners in succession but Dipika and the Indian defense was able to keep the ball from going in with some luck and plenty of pluck.
In the last minute Japan got another close look at the Indian goal but again Dipika was clever enough to cover the angle and block a shot taken by Nagisa Hayashi to force the match into extra time.
The two teams were deadlocked until the dying moments of the first half of extra time when Japan earned their 10th penalty corner and Manabe clinched her team’s win when she pushed in a loose ball to shut out the 1982 champions from the medal rostrum.
Later, India coach Sandeep Somesh conceded that the defeat had left many of his team members in tears.
He also said that the Indians will need to work hard to improve their physical fitness.
“It was a long match and Japan played well and dominated.
We have to work hard to be physically fit,” he said.
The coach also praised Indian goalkeeper Dipika for her outstanding show under the bar.
“Dipika Murthy was excellent in the Indian goal, Somesh added.
-PTI
