Hockey World Cup: Heartbreak for IND, loses to NZ in crossover match; key moments locked expectations

The Indian hockey team’s dream of winning the World Cup once again after 48 years remained unfulfilled. India was knocked out by New Zealand in their crossover match of the ongoing Hockey World Cup 2023 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. New Zealand won in sudden death after the match ended in a 3–3 draw.

Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (17′), Sukhjit Singh (24′), and Varun Kumar (40′) were the scorers for the hosts in each of the four quarters. Meanwhile, Sam Lane (28′), Kane Russell (43′), and Sean Findlay (49′) got their names on the scoresheet for New Zealand. Winning the match, New Zealand will face Belgium in the quarter-finals.

Hockey World Cup 2023 quarter-finals

Quarter-final 1: Australia vs Spain
Quarter-final 2: Belgium vs New Zealand
Quarter-final 3: Netherlands vs TBD
Quarter-final 4: England vs TBD

India vs New Zealand

It was a do-or-die match for India. Earlier, both the teams were tied 3-3 in the stipulated time. But in the penalty shootout, India fell behind the lower-ranked New Zealand. The performance of the Indian team, which is in sixth place in the hockey rankings, was very embarrassing against New Zealand. This was the reason that after taking a 2-0 lead in the first half, India gave New Zealand a chance to come back into the match.

Let us tell you about the reasons why India got defeated by New Zealand

India’s defense remained weak

Arun Kumar scored a goal for India in the 40th minute. At the same time, New Zealand also managed to score a goal in the third quarter. Ken Russell scored a goal in the 43rd minute for New Zealand. When the game ended in the third quarter, India was leading 3-2.

Team India’s defense looked weak in the fourth quarter. The Indian team could not defend itself better. There were still 11 minutes left in the match to end. In such a situation, New Zealand intensified the attack. The Indian defense looked disintegrating. In the 49th minute, New Zealand’s Sean Findlay scored the third goal to bring the team on par. After this, Team India yearned to score a goal, but it could not succeed in front of New Zealand’s strong defense. In this way, both the teams were tied at 3-3 in the stipulated time.

India could not capitalize on the penalty corner

The Indian team failed to capitalize on the penalty corner against New Zealand. India got four penalty corners between 22 and 24 minutes. But Indian players failed to score every time. The poor performance of the Indian team can be gauged from the fact that India got 10 penalty corners in the entire match. Despite this, Team India’s score remained equal to 3-3 in the stipulated time. India’s ability remained surprising in the penalty shoot-out and Team India had to face defeat by 4-5.