Australia rubbed salt into India’s wounds, beating the hosts 2-1 to claim the bronze medal in the FIH Champions Trophy here on Sunday.
Less than 24 hours after losing to their bitter rivals Pakistan through a late goal, a deflated India tried hard to claim the bronze but had to settle for a second straight fourth-place finish, thanks to their sloppy finishing. After a sedate start to the opening quarter, the Australians stroked ahead in the 18th minute following a lovely piece of play. Captain Eddie Ockenden dribbled into the circle, exchanged a superb one-two with Jacob Whetton before hitting it home.
In the 42nd minute, India earned a penalty corner and following an early scramble, Manpreet Singh whacked the ball into the circle that was saved by goalkeeper Tyler Lovell. Ramandeep Singh reverse-hit the rebound back to the custodian before Lalit Upadhay stroked home. Matt Gohdes completed the tally 52nd minute.
Results: Bronze medal play-off: Australia: 2 (Eddie Ockenden 18th, Matt Gohdes 52nd) bt India: 1 (Lalit Upadhyay 42nd).
Fifth-sixth place play-off: Netherlands: 4 (Mink van der Weerden 47th, Jeroen Hertzberger 55th, 58th, Constantjin Jonker 56th) bt Argentina: 1 (Matias Paredes 19th). Seventh-eighth place play-off: England: 3 (David Condon 14th, 19th, Chris Griffiths 30th) bt Belgium: 2 (Florent van Aubel 10th, 39th).
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks