Bhubaneswar: India's wait for their second FIH Men's Champions Trophy medal extended further here on Sunday as they lost 2-1 to Australia in the bronze-medal playoff to finish fourth in the final team standings.
Australia played a controlled game, but India were themselves to be blamed as their forwards, especially Akashdeep Singh, missed several scoring opportunities, while Australia defended in numbers once they restored their lead through Matt Gohdes in the 52nd min.
Akashdeep missed two back-to-back sitters in the last five minutes. Had he scored, the match may have gone to a penalty shoot-out. But it wasn't to be. With this, India matched their fourth-place finish in Melbourne two years ago; however, their medal count in the tournament stayed at just a bronze, which they won in 1982.
Australia skipper Eddie Ockenden opened the scoring in the 18th min, and his team held onto its 1-0 lead until the 42rd min when Lalit Upadhyay drew India level in a goal-mouth melee at the end of a penalty corner.
Gohdes then shot home a rebound off Sreejesh's pads eight minutes before the final hooter to win it for the Aussies.
India's only goal came off a PC, but it wasn't off the stick of the team's drag-flick specialists. It was a lucky break and Lalit should be credited for putting the ball in the net after a melee. The hosts failed to make their other two penalty corners count.
But it wasn't the case with other forwards, in particular Akashdeep, who had the goal at his mercy on two occasions in the 55th and the 57th min. On the second missed opportunity, he had an open goal in front of him, but took too much time and lost that precious half second to allow a block from the Australian defence.
"We missed a lot of chances," India's vice captain and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh said after the match. "We finished fourth because we couldn't convert our moves into goals."
India's stand-in coach Roelant Oltmans said it was tough on the team to play 18 hours from their last match [against Pakistan] but this group of players has come up well over the last couple of years.
"It was tough playing again just after 18 hours. We got a lot of chances in the last two quarters but couldn't convert those. But this group has progressed well and if it stays together, India should have better results in the future."
India lost the semi-final to Pakistan, while Australia's title defence was ended by Germany.
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