Champions Trophy: India settle for silver in dramatic shootout

Members of India’s hockey team walk off after a protest over the penalty shootout in the Champions Trophy final against Australia at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London on Friday. (Photo: AP)

The Indian hockey team settled for a silver medal in their best ever Champions Trophy performance after the spirited side went down 1-3 to world champions Australia in a controversy-marred summit clash penalty shootout here.

Only Harmanpreet Singh was able to score in the shootout, while S.K. Uthappa, S.V. Sunil and Surender Kumar all hit wide of the target.

Just four attempts were required from the two teams as Australia had gained a winning lead.

Aran Zalewski, Daniel Beale and Simon Orchard scored for Australia, while Trent Mitton’s try was blocked by goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh.

India thus improved on their bronze medal show in the 1982 edition.

Said India coach Roelant Oltmans: “By all yardsticks, their performance in the final was outstanding. I am proud of what we’ve been doing as a team. Our performance is getting better with every tournament. We’ll use the confidence gained here at the Champions Trophy to give a better display in the Olympic Games in Rio.”

There was plenty of drama in the shootout as Beale’s shot was re-taken after he failed to score and sought a video review. The video umpire asked the shot to be taken again, leaving Indian coach Roelant Oltmans fuming on the sidelines.

At the end of the match, India protested against the second successful attempt awarded to Beale, delaying the final announcement on the result of the match.

The officials assembled to decide on India’s appeal as trophies were removed from the ground and fans also left the stadium.

After discussing the appeal for more than an hour, the jury declared that there was unintentional obstruction on part of Indian goalkeeper Sreejesh in the seventh second thus the re-take of the shot was justified.

The presentation ceremony was later held indoors.