India manage final berth via 1-1 draw

After two days of hazy mornings, winter sunshine gave Shivaji Stadium a new hue.

After two days of hazy mornings, winter sunshine gave Shivaji Stadium a new hue.

The appearance of the India flag just beside one of the goals might have been a coincidence, but it did seem that the Indian team had taken on a bright new attitude as well.

Azerbaijan were already through to the Four-Nation Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey tournament title match. So for India it was just about not losing to ensure a spot for themselves as well.

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The 1-1 draw gave that, but a newly acquired penchant for trying to undertake attacking adventures and loud chatter on the field was a welcome change from the almost dull displays of earlier.

Still, after 15 minutes of positive forward ploughing, it was the team that has been hardest to contain all tournament that struck the first blow. Last-match star Aliyeva Mi-kyong was again incisive with her agility in the scoring area, and pounced on the deflected ball off a penalty corner.

Two minutes later, India were back roaming the opposition half, with Suman Bala just missing the ball after being almost clear.

Seconds before halftime, Anjum Saba couldn’t connect in time as skipper Mamta Kharab’s great through ball from the left flank whizzed past.

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Mamta and Ranjita Thockchom started the second half with attacking intent too.

And this attitude probably kept the East European girls, who had been keeping up the pressure on the opposition with multiple strikes in second halves, at bay.

With anticipation building, the goal just had to come, and it did in the 61st. Anjum’s slick pass through the sturdy Azerbaijan defenders was diverted into the net by Ritu Rani to cheers from the reasonable crowd.

Azerbaijan finished top of the four-tier table, with seven points, while India were second with five.

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Coach GS Bhangu’s repeated tirade of “trying out a new team” as excuse for missed chances apart, India would still do well to make sure the conversion rate swings upwards as the team gets ready for the Olympic qualifiers.

But before that is the prospect of facing the same opposition for the final tomorrow.

The draw having rendered the second match of the day fairly inconsequential, Italy upset the Malaysians 1-0. Daniela Possali scored in the eighth minute to give the South-East Asians something to think about before the two teams’ third place clash tomorrow.