Hockey: What happened in the closing stages of India’s defeat against Argentina – a bizarre sequence of events before Jugraj Singh missed penalty stroke

Jugraj Singh, in the absence of regular penalty taker Harmanpreet Singh who was out injured, stepped up and scored but Argentina now wanted to review this again as they argued that the Indian defender had one foot ahead of the ball when he went through the stroke. According to rule 13.7, subsection d (taking a penalty stroke), the player taking the stroke must stand behind and within playing distance of the ball before beginning the stroke. The video umpire upheld Argentina’s review and the stroke was ruled out.

Manpreet Singh, the former captain, got a green card during this whole drama as he approached the umpire in protest. The Indians, still unhappy with the decision, had a few conversations with Coen van Bunge, the experienced Dutch umpire, who was at the other end of the field. Hardik Singh, the stand-in captain, eventually convinced van Bunge to ask the video umpire if she looked at the entire play… including the defensive phase of action. Van Bunge’s request saw the video umpire look at the goalkeeper this time and she deemed that Tomas Santiago was off his line before the offence Jugraj had committed.

According to rule 13.7, subsection e, “the player defending the stroke must stand with both feet on the goal-line and, once the whistle has been blown to start the penalty stroke, must not leave the goal-line or move either foot until the ball has been played.” So instead of Jugraj’s mistake leading to a free out, it was now a retake for India.

Jugraj got the chance tor retake the stroke, but this time around, his high attempt was saved superbly by player-of-the-match Santiago who got his glove out to the right side in time. India missed the chance to equalise and eventually suffered their fourth straight defeat.