Sport - Hockey

Kiwis complete Indians' misery
By S. Thyagarajan

New Zealand's Philip Burrows (second from left), who netted the winner in the 9th-10th place classification match against India, gets a congratulatory pat from team-mate Darren Smith as Ryan Archbald (left) and Hayden Shaw come in to join the celebrations, at the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. - Photo: Vino John

Poland       3  Cuba      0
South Africa 5  Belgium   4
England      3  Malaysia  2 
New Zealand  2  India     1 
Pakistan     5  Argentina 3

KUALA LUMPUR, MARCH 8. What a sad campaign it was for India in the hockey World Cup. And the end could not have been more agonishing than it was at Bukit Jalil on Friday.

India, which managed only a 10th spot, the same as that at Lahore in 1990 under incredibly trying circumstances, played better hockey in the first half, allowed the pressure to escalate and finally succumbed to the penalty corner assault in quick succession to the Kiwis, which picked up the ninth spot, a rating that India obtained at the last edition at Utrecht.

Even a win in this classification round would have been a small consolation for a squad projected as strong enough for a place in the semi-final. The end was filled with as much anguish as at the start with a draw against Japan. Statistically, India lost five of the nine matches, drew one and won three - against the lowly rated Cuba and Poland in the league and Spain in the classification.

There was hardly an indication of India slipping into the valley of despair till late in the second half. Although the one goal lead was no guarantee for a win, the Indians hung on that lead and were palpably creative in the mid-field and in attack. Baljit Dhillon was conspicuous in his workouts with Prabhjot and Deepak Thakur. And when Deepak slotted the lead with a delectable shot, off a long hit from Barla in the early minutes, everything looked rosy.

A couple of attempts by Deepak and one by Prabhjot close on half-time kindled hopes a comfortable win but in the end it proved how erroneous was such a line of thinking.

It must be admitted that the Kiwis worked hard, never lost hope and were looking for openings. David Kosoof carried an element of danger whenever he sallied in, as did Ken Robinson in the mid-field with the skipper Simon Towns. A quick shot by the dangerous Ryan Archbald shook the defence for a moment but goal- keeper Devesh Chauhan brought off a smart save.

But trouble for India erupted in the last quarter. From the second penalty corner, there was none in the first half, Ryan Archbald hit in the rebound and minutes later from the next penalty corner, Philip Burrows deflected the push to wrest the initiative.

A spell of desperate raids was of no avail, though India managed two penalty corners in the last three minutes. A lovely hit by Jugraj was saved with assurance by goal-keeper Paul Woodford.

The match of day was between Pakistan and Argentina, fighting for the last slot to this year's Champions Trophy. Germany (holder and host), Australia, Korea, The Netherlands and India (through Champions Challenge) have ensured a place. Trailing 2-3, Pakistan pushed fought back into the match and secured its place as the sixth team. This is the first time that Champions Trophy will have three Asian countries.

The results: 15-16: Poland 3 (Eugeniusz Caczkowski, Krzyszlof Witczak, Robert Grotowsski) bt Cuba 0; 13-14: South Africa 5 (Justin King 3, including golden goal, Greg Nicol, Gregg Clark) bt Belgium 4 (Xavier Reckinger, Robin Geens, Xavier Brooke, Marc Coudron); 9- 10: New Zealand 2 (Ryan Archbald, Phil Burrows) bt India 1 (Deepak Thakur); 7-8: England 3 (Danny Hall 2, Mark Pearn) bt Malaysia 2 (Chua Boon Huat, Chairl Anwar); 5-6: Pakistan 5 (Sohail Abbas 2, Ali Raza, Nadeem Ahmed, Kaushif Jawad) bt Argentina 3 (Jorge Lombi 2, Fernando Zulberberg).

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