Champions Trophy hockey: Second place finish for India, but they could go one further at Rio 2016

Australia has been crowned Champions Trophy winners for the 14th time. But neither the championship match against India nor the trophy and medal ceremony were easy, smooth affairs. The match went into a penalty shoot-out before Australia clinched it. But the trophy ceremony was delayed by over one hour. The main problem was regarding the second Australian penalty, which was stopped by goalkeeper Sreejesh. However, Daniel Beale asked for a referral for obstruction and the third umpire allowed it to be taken again, from which Beale scored. According to India, this was wrong as the hooter had already gone and Beale was appealing for an obstruction after that. The Champions Trophy technical committee assembled to look at video replays, while the trophy sat out on the pedestal waiting for a decision. It is incredible that these decisions still take such a long time while the teams are made to wait. Worse, Indian fans, who had filled up the stadium and were waiting to cheer for the team when they received their medals, had to leave as the management asked for the gates to be closed. Finally, after more than an hour, with bronze medal winners Germany having already left for their hotel, the technical committee decided to give the trophy to Australia. India would feel they were robbed off a possible gold and a first ever Champions Trophy win. [caption id=“attachment_2842064” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Australia’s Daniel Beale and India’s Surender Kumar challenge for the ball. AP[/caption] But the applause is out for India. The Champions Trophy final, supposed to be a “walk-over” for world champions Australia, became a battle of nerves, pressure, patience and possession, eventually spilling out into a shoot-out after regulation time stayed goalless. Australian goalkeeper Tyler Lovell was the star as he kept out three shots and the world champions won 3-1. The Indians would be hugely disappointed as Uthappa hit the post, SV Sunil shot out while Surender Kumar’s shot was saved by Lovell. Indian coach Roelant Oltmans said he was extremely pleased by his team’s performance in the final, and was very critical of the way the shoot-out was handled by the umpires. “The execution was all wrong,” he said. “With the Rio Olympics coming up, this is no way to handle a shoot-out. It’s unacceptable and that is why we have filed an official complaint.” On the turf, it was end-to-end stuff, as both teams pulled out all they had to create goals. Normally, finals are tedious affairs with overtly defensive measures and a lot of cluttered midfield play. But both Australia and India had decided to give a match for their fans to remember, while ensuring they wouldn’t have to throw caution to the wind. Manpreet Singh, with the captain’s armband, had the team rallying around to play its best match of the tournament. They should have been a goal up in the first five minutes after Mandeep put Uthappa through with Lovell out of position, but the Indian forward smashed it out. Then came a rash of four consecutive penalty corners for Australia, where Sreejesh showed why he is one of the top goalkeepers in the world, saving three with one flick going wide. In the same quarter, India had two penalty corners, but shot straight to the goalkeeper. India was careful in the second quarter as records show that Australia has always managed to knock in a few goals during that period. Off their fifth penalty corner, the ball hit Surender in front of the goal as the umpire pointed for a stroke. But Blake Govers shot it out as the Indian fans cheered and celebrated. Sreejesh saved two more penalty corners as the second quarter also ended goalless. India stepped up their attack in the third quarter. They played possession hockey and stuck to their zones, attacking and defending with numbers. If Australia had a penalty corner, the Aussies pushed eight players up as India repeatedly counter-attacked. Australia had to keep looking over their shoulders. The pace was red hot with neither team letting up. Both teams had two penalty corners each. But the advantage should have been India’s when Ogilvie Flynn and Trent Mitton were showed the green and yellow cards one after the other. For a period of almost two minutes, Australia was down to nine men. India did push numbers up, looking for a breakthrough, but the world champions defended aggressively. India’s possession percentages for the first three quarters read – 69, 49 and 56. Not many teams in the recent past had pushed the Aussies back into their defensive zones. India created even more chances in the fourth quarter, but the final touch was missing. Akashdeep, Mandeep and Talwinder all had chances in the Aussie striking circle, but either the Aussie defence was stubborn or the Indians muffed it. Australia, however, would be hugely disappointed by not converting any off their 10 penalty corners in the match. Australia was getting frustrated and that led to a slew of cards with Matt Dawson getting a yellow and a 10-minute suspension. Down to 10 men, India again attacked but this time Nikkin got a yellow card with a five-minute suspension. Australia was back-pedalling and India looked for the match-winner. An Akashdeep reverse hit from the top of the circle almost broke the defence but the Australian goalkeeper saved it off the line. India’s fourth quarter possession was 79 per cent, showing the high level of hockey that India played. The Indian team showed resilience and a physicality not seen in recent times. Irrespective of the technical committee’s decision, India’s display in the Champions Trophy final shows that they have the talent and maturity to rise to the occasion. Rio should be the ideal stage for a similar display. It’s time they make consistency their calling card.