Slip-ups, not pressure caused India’s ouster, insists Harmanpreet Singh

India’s Harmanpreet Singh during their league match against Wales recently. Pic/Hockey India

Despite Team India's ninth-place finish, the worst by a host nation, India captain and chief drag flicker Harmanpreet Singh insisted that his team hadn't fared badly. Speaking after their 5-2 win over South Africa in their last classification match at the Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela on Saturday night, Harmanpreet actually said that his team had played well overall.

"We did not lose a single match in the tournament, barring the Crossover clash against New Zealand which we lost in the shootout," said Harmanpreet. World No. 6 India opened their campaign with a 2-0 win over Spain, followed by a 0-0 draw against England and a 4-2 victory over Wales in the group stages.

In the Crossover, they lost 4-5 to NZ via shootout after scores were locked 3-3 at the end of regulation time. In the 9th to 16th place classification match India routed Japan 8-0 before signing off with the win over South Africa. Recalling the Crossover defeat to NZ, where the hosts lost a two-goal lead (2-0 and 3-1) twice, Harmanpreet admitted his team had been error-prone in the latter part of the encounter.

"Had we made fewer mistakes in the third and fourth quarters against New Zealand and capitalised on our chances, the outcome of that game could have been different," he said. Playing in front of 20,000 home fans in a prestigious event like a World Cup can be a pressurising situation, but Harmanpreet refused to accept that as one of the reasons for their poor show.

"I don't think it's about pressure. Hockey has become faster these days and when you are faced with different match situations, mistakes do happen when you are hurried into things. Being a defender, I can say that we defended well through the tournament. And if you look at penalty corners [until their defeat to NZ, India scored just five times from 27 penalty corners they earned at a pathetic 18 per cent conversion rate], it's a good learning for me. I have belief in myself and so do my teammates. I will work harder on it as we head into other tournaments," he said.

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