The Indian hockey team in their first big test of the Rio Olympics was undone in the final seconds as Ruhr hit the winning goal with just 3 seconds left in the game to leave Roelant Oltmans’ men empty handed.
The Germans got off the block the quicker of the two teams as they dominated possession and looked the more likely to deliver the first blow. However, India were astute at the back with the Rupinder Pal Singh and co. holding fort while looking to hit on the counter-attack.
Manpreet Singh meanwhile looked really spry in the opening moments, driving the Indians forward. Indian’s first shot on goal, in fact, came on the counter as Nikkin Thimmaiah’s low reverse stick forced the German keeper into a good save. The first quarter thus finished goalless as both team made us witnesses to some really end to end Hockey.
Germany strike first but India come roaring back
The beginning of the second quarter, however, wasn’t too kind for the Indians as the Germans finally made the most of their possession as Niklas Wellen struck to put the Germans ahead in the 18th minute. The signs looked ominous as the World number three side began to grow in confidence.
However, the Indians roared back with another clinical counter-attack orchestrated by SV Sunil leading to a penalty corner. And the advantage was romped home by Rupinder Pal Singh, who scored his third goal of the tournament to put the Indians back on level terms.
India began to look really threatening and could and probably should have taken the lead when the ball found its way to Nikkin Thimmaiah at the back post. However the German keeper Nicolas Jacobi produced a brilliant save to deny India the lead.
The Blueshirts carried the momentum into the second half and looked more threatening of the two sides. India’s game began to flow as the Blueshirts carved out opportunities at will. They also had a penalty corner which was well saved by Jacobi to deny Rupinder a second brace in as many games.
The Indians time and again failed to capitalise on the chances created whilst also missing another penalty corner in the final quarter. The Germans, however, saved their best for last. With seconds remaining in the game, a ball swept from around 25 yards slipped past the entire Indian defence and was deflected in by Christopher Ruhr past a hapless PR Sreejesh.
Whilst, this was a body blow for the Indians, they can take a lot of heart from their effort. This clearly shows that they can go shoulder to shoulder with the big boys. However, they will have to be more clinical in the opposition D. They now need to shake off this shock and be ready to face Argentina tomorrow.
