Hockey WC: India women bow out after draw with Australia

Tears flowed freely in the Indian camp after the women’s hockey team’s hopes of making the World Cup semifinals ended in heartbreak, following a goalless draw against Australia here on Sunday. As final hooter sounded, veteran goalkeeper Savita Punia and Bichoo Devi, sitting in dugout, broke down.

Ishika Chaudhary, playing her maiden World Cup, sat behind them, staring blankly as the enormity of the missed opportunity sank in.

For a team that had dared to dream and looked capable of turning that dream into India’s first medal in women Hockey WC, the campaign ended with tears and heartbreak.

India finished level on points with Australia but were eliminated from semifinal contention on goal difference.

The disappointment was visible on the faces of the players as they walked off the field, many of them red-eyed and struggling to hold back tears before boarding the team bus. For a side featuring 11 players at their first World Cup, the exit was particularly difficult to digest.

Head coach Sjoerd Marijne, who spoke to the media after the match, too could not hide his disappointment, while scientific advisor and head of athlete performance Wayne Lombard and senior players tried to lift the spirits of the younger members of the squad. One player, sitting on the stairs and speaking to her mother over the phone, summed up the mood in the camp. “This was best opportunity. We came so close, and now I don’t know when I’ll get this chance again,” she said.

Savita, playing in her third World Cup, was equally heartbroken. “This was the best opportunity,” the player with 318 caps said quietly.

Experienced midfielder Neha Goyal was inconsolable. When reminded of next mission of winning gold at the Asian Games, she could only nod silently. India have never won a medal at the women’s World Cup, with their best finish being fourth in the inaugural edition in France in 1974.

Their fifth-sixth place match on August 27 will now give them a chance to have best ever finish after that.

But statistics were not enough to console the players.

When one player was told that a fifth-place finish would still be India’s second best result at the World Cup, she replied: “A medal is a medal, isn’t it?” Captain Salima Tete admitted that players were devastated after coming close.

“We’re not happy because we came so close. We worked so hard for it. We played well, but couldn’t finish,” she said.

“We’re together in defeat as well as victory. We’ve learned from this that we shouldn’t waste any opportunity. We’re playing for fifth place and we’ll make a comeback. We haven’t given up our fighting spirit, and we won’t in this last match either,” she said.