Picture Credit: Hockey India
Germany defeated defending champions India 4-2 in the semi-final game between the sides at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar on Friday night. India, who had qualified for the semi-finals after beating Belgium 1-0, looked clueless against a quality German attack.
Germany enjoyed the first quarter of the game more than India did. From excellent passes to some quality attacks, the six-time champions kept the hosts at the bay since the start. Their moment came in the final minute of the first quarter after they got their second penalty corner. The initial hit was somehow defended by goalkeeper Prashant Chauhan, but an alert Eric Kleinlein netted the deflected ball to give Germany the advantage just before the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was further disastrous for India as Germany scored three goals in comparison to India's lone goal in the period. In the 21st minute, Germany got their second goal of the game, thanks to Philip Holzmueller. Hannes Muller then made the scoreline 3-1 before Christopher Kutter could make it 4-1 through a penalty stroke. Between the third and fourth goal of Germany, India also got a goal, courtesy of Uttam Singh. However, the defending champions knew that they needed to do much more than that to challenge Germany, who were undoubtedly better on the matchday.
The third quarter saw none of the teams scoring a goal, though India improved their attack. In the final quarter, Boby Singh scored the second goal for India but that went in vain as India still trailed by a gap of two goals and eventually lost the game 2-4 to the German side.
Before this game, Argentina advanced to the final of the ongoing tournament with a 3-1 win over France in the penalty shootout after the game between the sides ended in a goalless draw at the end of stipulated 60 minutes. While India will now face France for the third-spot match on December 5 at 4:30 PM, Germany will face Argentina in the final on the same day at 7:30 PM IST.
