London Olympics: India lose to New Zealand in hockey

London: New Zealand bounced back to beat India 3-1 after conceding an early lead in an Olympic hockey match at the London Olympics 2012 on Wednesday.

India, after a sensational start when Sandeep Singh converted a second minute penalty corner, faded away as the Kiwis came storming back with goals by Andrew Hayward (13th), Phillip Burrows (24th) and Nicolas Wilson (29th), and then nursed the lead to the end.
It was a very disappointing performance by the Indians who just did not have the pace or power to overwhelm the Kiwis. Rather, age-old errors seemed to creep into India’s game with badly positioned forwards inside the striking circle, over-dribbling and lack of variety in their attacks.

In the deep defence, too, the Indians looked a step slower than the Kiwis and, more often than not, struggled to get the ball away from the danger zone. So much so that for the second-half coach Michael Nobbs replaced captain and goalkeeper Bharat Chetri with Sreejesh, who justified the substitution with a couple of good saves.

On a pleasant afternoon when the floodlights were turned on because of a heavy cloud cover, the Kiwis were razor sharp on the field.

Having beaten the Indians 5-1 in the Azlan Shah tournament, they knew what to do.

Sandeep Singh’s second minute penalty corner conversion kept India ahead for 10 minutes before the Kiwis hit back through Andrew Hayward (12th minute).

Shortly later, thanks to a defensive lapse, the Kiwis earned a penalty stroke and it was converted by Phillip Burrows. Nicholas Wilson rounded off the tally, and all goals were scored in the first half.

There was desperation in the Indian camp as goalkeeper Bharat Chetri was replaced by Sreejesh in the second half. No goals were conceded but from the Indian point of view there was no attempt to score as well.