Faltering India succumb to 1-3 defeat against New Zealand
Defensive lapses led to India's second successive loss in the Olympic Games men's hockey competition as they suffered a humiliating 1-3 defeat at the hands of New Zealand, here on Wednesday.
Conceding soft penalty corners and allowing the rival strikers plenty of leeway inside the circle, India's defence allowed New Zealand to call the shots even after taking an early lead.
Sandeep Singh's second minute penalty corner conversion kept India ahead for 10 minutes before the 'Black Sticks' hit back to score three goals in the first session through Andrew Hayward (12th minute), Phillip Burrows (24th) and Nicholas Wilson (29th) to leave the Indians shattered.
India's efforts to bounce back in the second session saw them frequently break into the rival circle, but were unable to change the scoreline. New Zealand, winners of the Azlan Shah Cup two months ago, had lost their opening match 0-2 to South Korea, while India suffered a 2-3 reversal against The Netherlands, who now lead the Group B table with six points from two matches after posting a 3-1 victory over Belgium on Wednesday.
New Zealand had beaten India 5-1 in their last meeting in the Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh (Malaysia). Indians opened the scoring in the second minute through a penalty corner conversion by Sandeep, who sent the drag flick into the net to make the most of the first Indian raid on the New Zealand citadel.
New Zealand responded by forcing their first penalty corner in the third minute, but the Indian goal had a close shave as Simon Child's deflection from Andrew Hayward's shot rebounded off the horizontal.
New Zealand pressed hard to dominate the first session and drew level in the 12th minute when a poor defence conceded a soft penalty corner that was converted by Hayward, who sent a shoulder high drag-flick past goalkeeper Bharat Chetri.
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