Deja vu 8212; Indian slide continues unabated

India allowed Britain8217;s Craig Parnham to equalise in the 16th minute itself before penalty corner expert Calum Giles rammed in his team8217;s fourth penalty corner in the 46th minute for Britain8217;s winning goal.

Eight-time champions India will now play for the 7-8 places on Friday, for the second Games in-a-row, against Argentina who were hammered by Germany 6-2 in another minor placings match. Britain will play Germany to decide the fifth and sixth places.

India finished eighth in the Atlanta Games four years ago which has been their worst showing so far in the Olympics.

The Indians appeared to mean business as they took the field in heavy rain without skipper Ramandeep Singh, stalwart right-winger Mukesh Kumar, seasoned midfielder Mohd Riaz and defender Lazarus Barla and pressed in youngsters in their place. But the result was no different.

Despite an early flourish by Britain in which a Danny Hall reverse flick went out after hitting the outside board of the goal, India forged ahead when Tirkey netting with a firm shot off their first first penalty corner.

Britain came back strongly and a Hall attempt went across the Indian goal. Then, in a fine move in the 16th minute Parnham got the ball back from Hall and drove it into the Indian net for the equaliser.

The British domination continued and they forced the first two of their four penalty corners, the same as those earned by the Indians, but nothing came off them.

The Indians wasted their second penalty corner and off the third for the British, a rising shot by Giles was disallowed as dangerous before the first half ended 1-1.

The Indians could not take advantage of their third penalty corner immediately after resumption while in the 11th minute of the second half, Britain forced their fourth and Giles found the mark to put his team ahead for the first time.

The Indians, who had no justifiable reason to surrender their lead in such a hard-fought match, continued with their indifferent display.

They made matters worse for themselves in the 62nd minute when Baljit Singh Dhillon was given temporary marching orders by umpire Sumesh Putra of Canada for dangerous tackling in which David Hacker was hurt on his chin. Dhillon remained out for the rest of the match.