PC bug bites colts, again

Kuala Lumpur, December 14

Penalty corner woes continued to haunt India as they failed to convert even once from 12 shots to lose 1-4 to a clinical Germany in the semifinals of the Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup here today.

Six-time champions Germany, on the other hand, earned just two penalty corners in the whole match but scored on both the occasions.

The Indian team will need some soul-searching as it was inexplicable not to score even once from a dozen penalty corners at such a crucial stage of the showpiece event.

The Indians had produced a spectacular comeback win in their quarterfinal against world No. 4 Netherlands, but today their wastefulness came to the fore.

Ben Hasbach struck a brace with goals in the eighth and 30th minutes to give Germany a 2-1 lead at halftime. Sudeep Chirmako (11th) scored the solitary goal for India with a field effort.

The mighty Germans then consolidated their lead with a clinical penalty corner conversion by Glander Paul (41st), while Florian Sperling’s 58th-minute field strike completed the formalities.

“It was just an incredible game,” Player of the Match Hasbach said. “We didn’t start the game as well as we did against Argentina. But we stayed strong in our penalty corner defence.”

Last edition’s runners-up Germany will face France in the final. It will be a repeat of the 2013 final, which Germany won 5-2. France secured their spot in the title match with a hard-earned 3-1 win over Spain. “The feeling is incredible. Two years ago we lost in the semifinals so today we wanted to go to the final and we did,” French captain and Player of the Match Gaspard Xavier said.

India will play Spain for the bronze medal on Saturday. — Agencies