Women’s hockey team fail to qualify for Paris Olympics; lose to Japan 0-1

India’s worst fears come to life in 0-1 loss to Japan as they fail to secure Paris Olympics berth

Ranchi: A dismal and  lackluster performance by the  Indian women’s hockey team ruined their chances to bow of the 2024 Olympics qualification race with a 0-1 loss to  Japan in the third-place match of qualifiers here today, a PTI report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says

The Indian side failed  to convert any of the nine penalty corners they were awarded.

Kana Urata’s sixth-minute strike from the penalty corner turned out to be the winner for Japan as the wheels that were set in motion for the Indian team, following a momentous fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, seemed to have come off after the utterly disappointing show in recent years.

The top three sides from this tournament qualified for the Paris Olympics. By finishing third, Japan booked their berth. Germany and USA are the other two sides  have sealed their places.

Japan were the early aggressor as they exerted pressure on the Indian defence and, in the process, had the first scoring chance,.

We have to watch the Olympics on the TV. We know we wanted to be there and, to be completely honest, we have the quality to be there. We should have been there, but we  are not, so that hurts. Janneke Schopman, India coach

We got many, many chances and penalty corners, but we failed. We didn’t give up, we kept on trying. It really hurts. We now can’t compensate that. Savita Punia, India captain

It was really disappointing. Missing out on Olympics will definitely hurt. If you get so many scoring chances, including as many as nine penalty corners, and don’t take those opportunities, it is going to hurt you. Ajitpal Singh, former India captain

Japan kept up the pressure and secured their first penalty corner minutes later but the Indians defended well.

Two minutes later, India conceded another soft penalty corner, and this time Urata found the back of the net through the legs of Savita with a grounded flick.

The Indian backline was put under tremendous pressure by the Japanese with some dangerous crosses but the hosts somehow managed to hold on.

Germany win final

Ranchi: A dominant Germany defeated USA 2-0 to win the Olympics qualifiers here today, having already secured their place at the Paris Games. Germany scored two goals in the first two quarters through Jette Fleschfutz (3rd minute) and Sonja Zimmermann (20th) to claim the top spot in the eight-team tournament.

A dominant New Zealand scored three goals in the first three quarters to beat Italy 3-1 and finish fifth.

Rose Tynan (7th), skipper Olivia Merry (10th) and Hannah Cotter (31st) were the scorers for them in the fifth-sixth place classification match. Italy’s lone goal came from Ivanna

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