Indians impressive, but some distance remains to be run

Though the Indians won by a big margin, they were required to be relentless in their attack on the opposition, since the scoreline of the parallel China-Malaysia match was not available. Both China and India had the same number of points at the start of the crucial day today and India, especially, were expected to go on a goal-scoring binge.

But the Indians became complacent in the final session of the match — the last 10 minutes were goalless — and the fortunes could have swung either way. The Indians, however, did play a stronger second half, scoring five goals which actually compensated for the slow start in the first half.

But despite that, for a new team comprising mainly youngsters who are cutting their teeth at the international level, one would normally expect to see more urgency and ruthlessness. Kazhakstan were struggling to even reach the Indian D and for a team in the rebuilding-process, the stage was readymade for the Indians after their honourable draw against China in the previous match.

Skillful forward Surinder Kaur led the way in the match, firing two goals in the first three minutes. But her teammates seemed to lack motivation and India failed to take advantage of Kazhakstan’s weak defence except for one indirect PC conversion which fetched them their third goal in the first half.

It is doubtful whether the Indians will get another opportunity in the tournament to hone their finishing skills but it’s now clear that they need to sort out the problem before the medal round begins from Friday.

The Indian display in the penalty corner conversion was much improved today — they scored three from 12 — but as far as the overall picture is concerned, they have converted just five from 33 PCs so far in the tournament. Importantly, the absence of a quality drag-flicker in the Indian team is having its effect on the performance.