The Indian women’s hockey team went down fighting 2-3 to Great Britain in their FIH Pro League match here on Sunday, extending its run of losses to eight matches.
India thus ended its Pro League season with a heartbreaking defeat to the home team, having played well for the majority of the match before Grace Baldson’s (56’ and 58’) quick-fire brace snatched victory for Great Britain.
Two calls went against go against India, including a video review leaving coach Harendra Singh frustrated.
With the score reading 2-2 and the final hooter approaching, Badlson struck the winner — a powerful drag flick hitting the bottom corner.
Badlson thus broke Indian hearts once again three years after scoring the winner at the Tokyo Olympics that gave Great Britain the bronze medal.
Her strikes also prevented India from winning its first match under Harendra.
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Lalremsiami scored a field goal for India in the 14th minute after Watson Charlotte put Britain in the lead with her third-minute strike.
Kaur Navneet was the goal-scorer for India, finding the target in the 23rd minute.
It was a much-improved performance by the Indian side but not enough to beak their run of defeats.
“These are not the results that we want. We are upset about today’s result. We came back from a goal down, we needed to be calm in the end.
“When we came here, we had to play attacking hockey. The four matches in Belgium, we were defensive. We did that in London, but of course, our defence needs to be better,” said goalkeeper Savita Punia.
“It means a lot to Indian hockey that we keep our place in the Pro League because otherwise, we don’t get enough matches. Not happy with performances, but happy that we remain in the Pro League,” she added.
