Indian women's hockey team on Saturday lost the final of olympic qualifiers against the South Africans 3-1. South African women will travelling to London for the 2012 olympics. Indian women need to be satisfied with the silver medal in the qualifiers.
South Africa was the favourite to win the women qualifiers and as expected they have done the same. Indian women tried their best but just couldn't win. India's defence is to blame for the defeat.
South Africa started off well, they scored in the fourth minute of the game. It was a field goal by Russell. They didn't stop with that they scored in the 30th minute. Coetzee scored off a Penalty corner. The first half ended with the score on South Africa's side 2-0.
Indian women did put up an improved performance in the second half. But at the other end the South Africans kept coming at them. With 16 minutes to go in the game, captain Marescia scored and the lead extended to 3-0.
But India regained some hope after scoring in the 57th minute. It was the first goal for the host and it was off a penalty corner. The scorer was Jaspreet Kaur, who has under performed in this tournament. The crowd started cheering after the goal.
But the South African defence was so hard to break down. They finally clinched ticket to London. They won the game 3-1.
India's defence was the biggest problem, whenever the South African girls penetrated the circle there was not enough players in the circle to defend. All Indian women were late in getting back to the circle once the South African gain possession.
On the other end of the pitch, India couldn't utilize some golden opportunities to score goals. One of those opportunities was when Rani Rampal dribbled the ball penetrating the lone defender into the circle but a sloppy pass allowed the opponents to clear the ball away from danger.
South Africa was the favourite to win the women qualifiers and as expected they have done the same. Indian women tried their best but just couldn't win. India's defence is to blame for the defeat.
South Africa started off well, they scored in the fourth minute of the game. It was a field goal by Russell. They didn't stop with that they scored in the 30th minute. Coetzee scored off a Penalty corner. The first half ended with the score on South Africa's side 2-0.
Indian women did put up an improved performance in the second half. But at the other end the South Africans kept coming at them. With 16 minutes to go in the game, captain Marescia scored and the lead extended to 3-0.
But India regained some hope after scoring in the 57th minute. It was the first goal for the host and it was off a penalty corner. The scorer was Jaspreet Kaur, who has under performed in this tournament. The crowd started cheering after the goal.
But the South African defence was so hard to break down. They finally clinched ticket to London. They won the game 3-1.
India's defence was the biggest problem, whenever the South African girls penetrated the circle there was not enough players in the circle to defend. All Indian women were late in getting back to the circle once the South African gain possession.
On the other end of the pitch, India couldn't utilize some golden opportunities to score goals. One of those opportunities was when Rani Rampal dribbled the ball penetrating the lone defender into the circle but a sloppy pass allowed the opponents to clear the ball away from danger.
