Zeenews Bureau
Chandigarh, Feb 09: India went down 1-2 against Holland in the Punjab Gold Cup hockey final on Monday.
Tournament top-scorer Jeroen Hertzberger converted a
penalty corner in the 66th minute to break Indian hearts in
the final, played under lights before a packed Sector 42
hockey stadium.
After a barren first half, it was India who took the lead
in the 43rd minute when Korean umpire Kim Hong Lee awarded the
hosts a penalty stroke after striker Shivender Singh was
unfairly tackled inside the striking circle by Dutch forward
Wouter Jolie.
Skipper Sandeep Singh, who had failed to score from the
spot against the Dutch in the group league stage, made no
mistake this time as his low hit beat Dutch goalkeeper Jaap
Stockmann.
The visitors equalised within three minutes when Robbert
Kemperman's deflection beat India goalkeeper Baljit Singh.
India tried hard to find the winner and also earned five
penalty corners but to no avail as Hertzberger's sixth goal of
the tournament left them high and dry.
India earned their first penalty corner in the fifth
minute but Sandeep's powerful hit was saved by Stockman.
The hosts came close to opening their account in the 19th
minute but striker Tushar Khandekar's diagonal pass to
Shivender missed the goal by inches.
Holland earned their first penalty corner in the 20th
minute but goalkeeper Baljit once again rose to the occasion
to block the powerful shot.
The Indian defence came in for some tough time late in
the first half from the Dutch strike pair of Hertzberger and
Lucas Judge, but Baljit's strong keeping kept them at bay.
India got yet another chance to forge ahead at the stroke
of halftime when Shivender led an attack from the right flank.
However, Rajpal failed to trap the ball inside the striking
circle and the chance went begging.
The Dutch, who were held 4-4 and 2-2 by India in the
group league stage, took a victory lap after the final hooter.
First Published: Monday, February 09, 2009, 00:00