Indians unlucky against Aussies

16/10/2001

By Jugjet Singh in Hobart

HOBART: India were clearly the better team but champions Australia walked
away with three points after their Junior World Cup match at the Tasmanian
hockey centre yesterday.
In the last 15 minutes, India, who were trailing 2-1, displayed some
world class attacking hockey with little regard for defence but Australian
goalkeeper Leon Martin stood his ground.
And when the horn blew, even the Australian fans knew they were lucky to
have walked away as winners.
The first half was lopsided as Indian skipper Ajit Singh Gagan, Jugraj
Singh and Prabhjot Singh kept the ball in the Australian semicircle for
long periods with great stick work and superb team play.
In the 23rd minute, India scored off a penalty corner set piece, but the
goal was disallowed by the umpire.
But India had impressed the crowd with their wizardry and the second
half was an exciting affair.
In the 38th minute, the match took on a physical look as both sides
tried to break the deadlock with India trying to score while Australia
were desperate to move upfront more often.
That was when Ajit received a nasty blow just below his knee and had to
be carried out. He required stitches and was out for 10 minutes but India
hardly missed him as the scored the opener off a penalty corner.
A dummy saw Jugraj with plenty of room and he slammed in the lead. The
desperate Aussies, who lost 4-2 to Holland on Sunday, needed to win and
the match became robust with four yellow cards flashed with two for each
side. In the 44th minute, Australia leveled with a penalty corner goal
from their skipper Craig Victory. It was following one of the rare
attacks.
India still dominated but poor finishing cost them as Australia fought
back and in the 58th minute, Josh Hawes scored a field goal which brought
the crowd to their feet.
Australia meet Argentina tomorrow and must win if they want to defend
their crown while India, who have only one point after a 2-2 draw with
Argentina, meet Holland in what will be their last chance to remain in the
running for the semifinals.
In pool E, England, who beat korea 5-3 on Sunday, continued their fine
run and drew 2-2 with Spain. They play Germany tomorrow and if they win,
it will be the fairytale of the tournament.
Today, the match of the day is between Holland and Argentina and it will
be interesting to see how the Dutch stop the speedy Argies.
(END)