Australia dominated from start to finish, while India struggled to get their act together, resulting in an embarrassing defeat.
Follow Us
A rampant Australian men’s hockey side hammered India 7-1 in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 match on Sunday. Australia dominated from start to finish, while India struggled to get their act together, resulting in an embarrassing defeat. India were outplayed in every quarter of the match, and there were few positives to take away from the game. Dilpreet Singh’s goal was the only silver lining for India as the team was outclassed in every department on Sunday. With the 7-1 rout on Sunday, the Australian side have sent a clear message to their rivals that they are here to win the Olympic gold. On the other hand, the Indian team have to pick themselves up quickly with a lot of tough challenges awaiting them in the coming days.
As expected Australia start the game with some offensive approach while India held their ground firmly early in the game. India managed to get the first penalty corner but failed to convert it as the Australian defence kept a good shape. Australia opened the scoring through Daniel James after a penalty corner helped them in scoring the game’s first goal. India’s response was swift as they won a penalty corner soon after but Rupinder Pal Singh’s strong shot was denied by the Australian goalkeeper in the end.
It was an end to end affair in the early minutes of the Pool A match and both sides had a couple of good opportunities to score. India were trailing 0-1 at the end of the first quarter. The Indians showed some attacking intent in the second quarter, but Australia scored again. From a penalty corner, the Aussies got another goal as they doubled their lead through Jeremy Hayward’s powerful shot.
We will come back stronger than ever. ?#INDvAUS #HaiTayyar #IndiaKaGame #TokyoTogether #StrongerTogether #Tokyo2020 #HockeyInvites #TeamIndia #Hockey pic.twitter.com/0fxXthY6u9
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) July 25, 2021
From that point onwards, Australia continued to create problems for Indian defence. They started to move the ball swiftly as the Indian midfield looked clueless at times. Soon it became 3-0. Flynn Ogilvie scored with a thunderous shot into the bottom corner after a pass from Blake Govers. There was still time for Australia to add to India’s woes. Joshua Beltz got his name on the score sheet next as the Aussies went into the half-time break 4-0.
With an uphill task at hand, India came out of the second half with more attacking intent. Their positive approach was rewarded as the Indians finally broke the deadlock to score their first goal of the match. Dilpreet Singh pulled one back to keep India’s slim chances of a remarkable comeback alive.
However, the Australians responded back in some style as Blake Govers scored from a penalty stroke with goalkeeper PR Sreejesh unable to do anything about it. That goal more or less killed India’s momentum and there was enough time for Australia to increase their advantage. There was no stopping the Kookaburras now as Blake Govers got another goal. It’s the sixth for the Aussies.
With Australia maintaining a compact shape in their defence, Indians were unable to reduce the massive deficit. With India pushing hard to pull one back, the Aussies hit back again. Tim Brand got his name on the scoresheet with a clinical finish as the entire Indian side looked dejected. Next up for India is a difficult match against Spain on Tuesday.
