BHUBANESWAR: India wasted a golden opportunity to break their 32-year-old medal jinx in the after going down to Australia 1-2 in a hard-fought bronze medal play-off match of the eight-nation meet in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
Playing before a vociferous packed home crowd at the Kalinga Stadium, it was the best chance for the Indians to end their medal drought in the tournament but as has been the case in the entire tournament, missed chances continued to haunt Sardar Singh and Co.
The only time India had won a medal in the Champions Trophy was when they bagged a bronze in the 1982 edition in Amsteelveen, the Netherlands.
A bronze would have at least given some solace to the Indians after their heart-breaking 3-4 defeat at the hands of arch-rivals Pakistan in a high-voltage second semifinal last night.
But it was not to be as once again India conceded a late goal to lose the match. Australia scored two field goals through skipper Eddie Ockenden (18th minute) and Matt Gohdes (52nd) to win a consolation bronze after having retained the title the last five times.
India’s lone goal was scored by young striker Lalit Upadhyay in the 42nd minute.
The loss meant India couldn’t even better their previous performance in the tournament though they had a bright chance.
It will definitely be a heartbreak for the Indian players as they finished fourth in the last edition of the tournament in Melbourne two years ago.
Against Australia, it looked the Indians were yet to recover from the shock defeat against Pakistan and that too in front of the home crowd.
The Indians were slow to get off the blocks and looked sloppy and out of sorts in the opening two quarters.
India hardly created any chances in the opening half.
Australia looked the better side on display and also had the better share of chances.
Australia had the first real scoring chance in the fifth minute of the match when they won their first penalty corner, but the Indian defence did well to deny the Kookaburras.
Australia kept up the pressure on the Indian defence and it resulted in their first goal in the 18th minute from the sticks of Ockenden, who scored with a gentle push off Jacob Whetton’s pass from the right.
Australia maintained their supremacy in the rest of the second quarter and managed to secure their second penalty corner just 50 seconds from halftime, but a variation try was anticipated well by Sreejesh.
After the change of ends, India looked a different side as there was purpose and content in their game.
Unlike the first two quarters, India did not sit back and went on the offensive and the move resulted in two back-to-back penalty corners, the second of which was utilised by the hosts to draw level.
Lalit scored from a goalmouth melee after India messed up the second short piece.
Thereafter, the Indians created a lot of chances, but faltered in execution.
10 minutes from full time, an unmarked Sunil missed a great chance. With only Australia goalie Tyler Lovell to beat, Sunil scooped it straight to him and shot wide the resultant rebound.
The miss cost India dearly as Australia struck back two minutes later through Gohdes, who scored off a rebound after Whetton’s initial shot was saved by Sreejesh.
With time running out, India pressed hard in search of the equaliser and managed to secure their third penalty corner in the 55th minute, but wasted the chance while going for a variation instead of straight strike.
Akashdeep Singh then missed a sitter three minutes from the hooter, summing up India’s disappointing day.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, the Netherlands spanked Argentina 4-1 in the fifth-sixth place play-off match, while England defeated Belgium 3-2 to finish seventh.