New Delhi: Indian women hockey team's Olympic dream came crashing down on Saturday as they lost the final 3-1 to a formidable South African (SA) team that will now advance to the London Olympics to be played later this year.
India always appeared second best in a match dominated by South Africa, which reflected in the two penalty corners (PC) they earned as opposed to five by the visitors.
Shelley Russell put SA ahead early through a soft goal that came by after a defensive lapse by the hosts. Pietie Coetzee made it 2-0 off her team's third PC before the half-time hooter. Marsha Marescia added a formidable 3-0 look to scoreline in the second half to put the game beyond India's reach.
Jaspreet Kaur pulled one back off India's second PC, but by then it was too late to revive India's Olympic dream.
India started on the wrong foot, going down 1-0 in the opening exchanges. Russell was quick to spot the loose ball in the 4th minute after lack of coordination among Indian defenders and slotted it in past a bemused Yogita Bali - the Indian goalkeeper.
The story of Indian forwards was either they lost possession close to SA's 25-yard line or failed to finish off their moves inside the striking circle. Anuradha Devi came close a couple of times but failed to convert those chances into goals.
South Africa earned two PCs in the last 10 minutes of first half, with Coetzee sounding the board on the second in the 30th minute to make it 2-0 going into the break.
Indian attack looked far better in the second half but the lack of finishing continued to plague the forward line. Anuradha came close to scoring in the 43rd minute off a through ball from Jasjeet Kaur but couldn't beat the SA goalkeeper Mariette Rix from a close-range deflection.
Marescia put the final nail in the coffin in the 53rd minute off another PC conversion to give a two-goal cushion to her team, which almost stamped South Africa's Olympic qualification.
India's second PC in the 57th minute brought about their first goal when Jaspreet Kaur netted the ball in. South Africans then strengthened their defence with the whole team falling back to thwart India's chances of a comeback.
A disappointed Indian coach, CR Kumar, called for improvement in the structure of women hockey in India and said better planning was the need of the hour to improve the talent pool.
"The realisation is very important. There is no dearth of talent, but our elite pool is very small. We need to have a solid grassroot programme so that the players are strong and intelligent by the time they make it to the senior team," he said.
South Africa came into the tournament having relinquished their Olympic berth as continental champions. Indian women, on the other hand, wanted to end their 32-year long wait for the Olympics but failed at the final hurdle.
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