Hockey World Cup 2023 – India Crash out of the WORLD CUP against New Zealand in the crossover match: Team India bowed out of the Men’s Hockey World cup in the crossover match against lower-ranked New Zealand, failing to reach the quarter-final of the competition being the host nation. India once had a 3-1 lead against the kiwis eventually losing to penalties with the scoreline in the shootout reading 5-4 in favor of New Zealand.
India suffered a massive blow before the match with one of their ace players, Hardik Singh getting ruled out of the competition. His absence was felt massively and New Zealand latched onto the mistakes committed by Indian players. India scored through Lalit Upadhyay (17th minute), Sukhjeet Singh (24th), and Varun Kumar (40th), while New Zealand gave prompt replies through Sam Lane (28th) and two penalty-corner conversions by Kane Russell (43rd) and Sean Findlay (49th).
However, Team India had a golden opportunity to book their spots in the Quarter Finals with captain Harmanpreet Singh stepping up to finish the game. The captain failed to find the back of the net and New Zealand went on to script a huge victory over the hosts. PR Sreejesh came off the bench to make two stunning saves however, went off injured with Pathak replacing the goalie.
The team as well as head coach Graham Reid is very disappointed after getting knocked out of Hockey World Cup 2023 as he mentioned, “For a team that had come into the tournament with hopes of a first podium finish after the 1975 gold, crashing out before the quarterfinals were nothing short of a debacle. This team was good enough to at least reach the quarterfinals, if not the semifinals. But who would have thought that the world number six home side would lose to 12th-ranked New Zealand in the penalty shootout of the crossover match after being ahead by two goals on two occasions? With crores of rupees being spent on the team’s training, exposure tours, and support staff salaries, it ought to have done better. Ultimately, it is the lack of execution (in the finishing) “
It remains to be seen how the team responds to the setback in the coming months and years.
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