India out of medal race after second loss

Germany, who led 1-0 at the breather, scored through Mitthias Witthaus (4th) and Niklas Meinert (48th) while Kanwalpreet Singh scored for India in the 41st minute.

Germany dominated the proceedings in the opening session denying India any space in the midfield to manoeuvre around. The Indians were also extremely erratic in defence as the off-colour skipper Dilip Tirkey and unpredictable Kanwalpreet Singh were guilty of committing some unforced errors.

India were lucky to concede only a solitary goal in the first 35 minutes as the clinical German display, by their fairly young team, was marred by mistakes in finishing. The world champions shot into an early lead with their first onslaught in the fourth minute after Witthaus shot past Devesh Chauhan after receiving a crosspass from captain Tibor Weissborn.

Despite this early reversal, India continued to play patchily to the disappointment of their numerous supporters here. Coach Rajinder Singh Jr rotated his bench strength but the sturdy German defence gave no inroads to their rivals.

Germany had their gameplan well worked out as the key Indian strikers Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh and Deepak Thakur were well shadowed. Germany should have gone into the break with a bigger scoreline, but Til Kriwet could not convert the session’s only penalty corner, awarded after Davinder Pal Singh’s foot fault. Before that Phillip Zeller’s hit was well taken by Chauhan.

India had two chances to draw level in this half but those went abegging. First, Viren Rasquinha’s fine deflection off Bimal Lakra’s free hit was stopped by Christian Schulte, and shortly after Arjun Halappa could not latch on to a Deepak Thakur pass.

After the crossover, India put up a spirited show, albeit only in short bursts. They began with thrusts from Rajpal Singh on the right flank but he could not find the desired support from the inside strikers.

Kanwalpreet found India the equaliser in the 41st minute after earning their first penalty corner when Gagan Ajit was obstructed by Benjamin Wess. The Punjab Police full-back drove the set piece home past Schulte.

However, India’s happiness was shortlived as the Germans pressed on to earn a penalty corner seven minutes later. A dragflick from Florian Keller was palmed away by Chauhan to the waiting Meinert who banged home to give the Germans their winner.

India again tried to find the equaliser, bringing the ball into the 23-metre area and the circle, but Germany’s deep defence stood strong and impregnable.

India’s last chance for drawing parity also went up in smoke when Prabhjot Singh pushed wide with only the goalkeeper to beat, with only two minutes on the clock.

Aussies thrash Korea

Amstelveen: In a match played later, Olympic champions Australia demolished Asiad gold medallists South Korea 7-1.

The freeflowing Aussies, who led 4-0 at half time, scored through Grant Schubert (5th and 70th), Michael McCann (18th and 25th), Travis Brooks (22nd), Liam de Young (50th) and Rob Hammond (68th) while Hong Eun Seong got the consolation for Korea in the 64th minute. The Koreans, found the men from Down Under too hot to handle as they caved in to their rivals continuous sorties and superb off the ball runs.

Aussie strikers McCann, Jamie Dwyer, Brent Livermore and Grant Schubert moved up in tandem, propelled by their midfielders, to wreak havoc in the rival defence. At the other end, their goalkeeper Stephen Mowlam was outstanding under the bar as he foiled all the Korean attacks in the second half with great confidence.