A gold lost on Thursday but a bronze won on Saturday. The gloom in the Indian women's hockey camp made way for cheers as Savita Punia and her team eked out a hard-fought 2-1 win over Japan to win the bronze. Incidentally, the two teams had met in the final of the previous edition and Japan had edged India by a similar scoreline.
While India return with a medal, they will need to wait until January next year for the only other opportunity to qualify for the Paris Olympics. Also, chief coach Janneke Schopman has her hands full. First, she will have to answer the tough questions Hockey India is expected to pose to her. The Olympian from the Netherlands will then have to go back to the drawing board to iron out some basic flaws in the squad.
In the third-place playoff, India struck in the fifth minute with Deepika converting a penalty stroke. They could have had a cushion of at least a couple of more goals in the first half, if Vaishnavi Phalke, Vandana Katariya and Sangita Kumari had applied themselves better and made quick decisions inside the circle. Japan's dominance in the second quarter resulted in skipper Nagai Yuri deflecting in a penalty corner.
The third quarter was patchy with the teams trying to attack without meaningful structure. In the final quarter, Vaishnavi was guilty of shooting wide when in front of an open goal, but three minutes later, Sushila Chanu scored what turned out to be the match winner in the 50th minute.
India then turned defensive and ensured they kept the lead.
