“The game is about scoring the goals and we don’t do that enough.”
Coach Sjoerd Marijne assessment of his team seems precise, simple and brutal. The Indian men’s hockey team have created and got loads of opportunities throughout the tournament. Conversion, however, has been a problem.
In their 2-3 defeat to New Zealand in the semi-finals, India had attempted eight field goals and took nine penalty corners. And, they converted only one PC out of them. The other goal was off a penalty stroke. So, they converted just one out of the 17 chances in the game. That’s 10 more chances than what New Zealand had on Friday.
“The story of the tournament is that we have had enough penalty corners. We created enough chances but we didn’t score off those,” Marijne said.
The story of the tournament:-
First match vs Pakistan: 1/4
Second match vs Wales: 3/13
Third match vs Malaysia: 2/9
Fourth match vs England: 2/3
Fifth match vs New Zealand: 1/9
Total Penalty Corner conversions: 9/38
This is a problem that’s been plaguing India for a while now. Except the match against England, they have been poor at converting penalty corners.
And, England are whom they will face to win the bronze on Saturday. England, they beat 4-3 in the most dramatic men’s hockey match in this tournament. The second meeting might be tricky for the men in blue, for there’s the pressure of winning a medal. India haven’t returned without a medal in the last two editions of the games. With their female counterparts bowing out to England in a 0-6 loss, it’s up to the men to get the country’s hockey contingent a medal.
