India’s semifinal hopes fade after 3-1 defeat to Netherlands

From the stands, the ‘wall’ of Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid, watched and cheered. On the pitch, though, the Netherlands turned the screws, exposing the cracks in India’s defence and handing Harmanpreet Singh and his men a 3-1 defeat, virtually shunting them out of the semifinal race.India’s semifinal chances will now hinge on some slim mathematical possibilities, other results going their way and a big-margin win over Argentina on Monday. Either way, it looks improbable. The Netherlands are through to the semifinals after this win, having moved to six points in the second round. India remain without a point.At half-time, India chief coach Craig Fulton had said, “We have to take more of our opportunities, which will decide the game.”The Netherlands did give India opportunities, but India failed to capitalise, with poor first-touch execution inside the circle among their biggest failings on the day. India enjoyed more possession, circle entries and penalty corners, but none of it translated into enough goals.Their dependence on Harmanpreet for penalty corners resurfaced and, against a watertight Dutch defence, India failed to execute their variations effectively.Backed by a boisterous home crowd at the Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen, the reigning Olympic champions delivered a masterclass in tactical hockey on Saturday.Duco Telgenkamp (41), Tjep Hoedemakers (51) and Thijs van Dam (56) scored for the Netherlands, while Harmanpreet pulled one back for India in the 52nd minute, converting one of their seven penalty corners.The Dutch’s relentless pressure finally paid off when Tijmen Reyenga’s reverse hit bounced loose and Telgenkamp pounced from close range to open the scoring.What stood out about the Netherlands was how quickly they transitioned from defence to attack. It took them just three passes to go from their own defensive third to India’s goal, as Hoedemakers doubled the lead.Harmanpreet pulled one back, but the Netherlands capitalised on an error under pressure to restore their two-goal advantage. Van Dam chipped the ball into the goal to put the match beyond India’s reach.The first half was a tight affair, and India owed much of their clean sheet to the work of Manpreet Singh. As the first runner, he was on point for most of the four penalty corners conceded by India.India enjoyed 60.3% possession, but the statistics offered little comfort.