India lost to New Zealand 4-5 in penalty shootout on January 22, in a match that could have sealed a place for the team in the quarter finals of FIH Men's Hockey World Cup 2023, which is underway in Odisha.
The defeat in the crossover match, played before a 15,000-strong cheering crowd in Bhubaneswar, also dashed India's hopes of lifting the world title after 48 years. With this loss, India has been knocked out of the tournament.
Before the game went into the penalties, India and New Zealand remained equal at 3-3.
India, ranked sixth in the world, produced a below-par performance, allowing New Zealand to claw back into the match after taking a 2-0 lead in the first half.
India scored through Lalit Upadhyay (17th minute), Sukhjeet Singh (24th) and Varun Kumar (40th).
New Zealand replied through Sam Lane (28th) and two penalty-corner conversions by Kane Russell (43rd) and Sean Findlay (49th).
In the penalty shootout, the scores were also tied after the first five set of strikes, and the match was finally decided via sudden death.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh had the golden chance to take India to victory in sudden death but he failed to do that as he missed the target.
Veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh made two saves in the shootout to rescue India after they were 2-3 down. He saved another one during the sudden death and got himself injured and Krishan Pathak replaced him in the next three rounds of strikes. Finally, Shamsher Singh missed and Sam Lane scored to hand New Zealand the win.
New Zealand will now face defending champions Belgium, who topped Pool B, in the quarterfinals in Bhubaneswar on January 24.
With PTI inputs
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