Thu, Oct 07 10 08:57 PM
Saumojyoti S Choudhury New Delhi, Oct 7 (PTI) Australia proved too hot for India to handle as the world champions spanked the home team 5-2 in a Pool A match and inched a step closer towards the semifinals of the men''s hockey event in the Commonwealth Games here today. Desmond Abbott (2nd minute), Trent Mitton (6th), Eddie Ockenden (48th), Liam de Young (54th) and Glenn Turner (58th) scored for Australia while Dharamvir Singh (12th) and Sandeep Singh were India''s goal-getters. The match was a golden opportunity for Australia to avenge their World Cup defeat, where they lost by identical margin earlier this year at the same venue, but once against the home team disappointed their fans. Despite conceding two early goals, India displayed some spark in the opening half but the Australians showed why they are the world beaters as they completely outplayed the Rajpal Singh-led side in the second period. Even though the Indians were impressive in the midfield in the opening half, their defence wore a sorry look throughout the match, which eventually turned out to be the difference between the two sides. Dhanjay Mahadik was a blunder at the back while Tushar Khandkar failed to impress upfront. Custodian Bharat Chetri too had a bad day in office as he failed to deny the Australians when it mattered most. The Indians were also undone by poor penalty corner conversion as they found the net only once out of the six chances they earned in the match. Contrary to scoreline, India dominated the first half barring the first 10 minutes but poor finishing let them down. As expected, the encounter started at a brisk pace with Australia coming out on top in the initial exchanges, while India took some time to get their footing in the match. The backline continued to haunt the Indians in yet another tournament as Australia took a 2-0 lead within the first six minutes of the match, courtesy some sloppy work by the defenders. .
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