Gurbux Singh disappointed with India`s last place finish

Kolkata: Former captain Gurbux Singh is disappointed at the Indian hockey team`s dismal performance at the London Games and said lack of a strong defence let the team down.

Singh, who played at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics where India won gold and was the joint captain at the 1968 Mexico City Games where India won a bronze, said he never expected the country to finish last in the event. "My expectations were that we would end up at 6-8. We came nowhere. I was expecting to watch one match in the pool. If you don`t consider 2008, where we could not qualify, this is the worst ever. We never finished last," Singh told PTI. "What can you expect from our team when we had no defence. We had just one player Sardara Singh. What can you do? It`s very very sad. I did not expect but not this bad," he added. India today suffered their sixth defeat in the London Olympics, going down 2-3 to South Africa to finish last in the competition. Singh said India needs to create a strong pool of players and it can only expect to win a medal in another 12 years. "However, future is not bad. Unless we target 6-8 years. We have to start with sub-junior and junior and then target to make semifinals. No point preparing on year-wise basis. I am not willing to accept. We are bad," he said. "World hockey has gone way ahead. We need at least 6-8 years to reach semifinals. It will take at least 12 years to win gold. It can improve, provided we start with juniors," he added. PTI