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Hockey World Cup
Indian men's hockey team head coach Craig Fulton admitted his team's slow start and inability to handle the pressure of a must-win game proved costly as they missed out on a place in the World Cup semifinals here on Monday. "It was a difficult day today. We didn't want to end like that. We started poorly, but the second quarter was much better. The third quarter wasn't good, but then we scored three goals in the last quarter and could have scored the fourth one too from a corner," Fulton told PTI after the 3-5 loss to Argentina. "Overall, it was a really strange game. We played at a high level in tournament, but in the big games we have to do better," he added. He also said the permutations surrounding India's qualification for the semifinals had affected the team's performance. "There were a lot of permutations going into this game that got the better of us. In the last 10 minutes, we played better hockey. That was a little too late," he said. Forward Sukhjeet Singh, who scored .
The Indian men's hockey team lost 3-5 to Argentina in a second round pool match to crash out of the semifinal race of the FIH World Cup here on Monday. Needing to win the match by at least a two-goal margin to stay in the hunt, India never looked in the game. Tomas Domene (33rd, 45th minutes) and Joaquin Toscani (1st, 53rd) scored a brace each for Argentina, while the other goal was scored by Nicolas della Torre in the sixth minute. India's two goals were scored from field efforts by Sukhjeet Singh in the 34th minute and 58th minutes. As a consolation, India got a penalty stroke 36 minutes from the final hooter and Hardik Singh converted to reduce the margin of victory.
Inspired by Harmanpreet Kaur and her women's cricket team, who created history by winning the ODI World Cup last year, veteran striker Navneet Kaur wants the Indian hockey team to script a similar title-winning story at the FIH Women's World Cup. India, ranked ninth in the world, began its campaign with a fighting 2-2 draw against Paris Olympic silver medallist and world No. 4 China. They next face 18th-ranked South Africa on Tuesday. The Indian women's cricket team's triumph over South Africa in the final last year, which earned them their maiden ODI World Cup title, has inspired women athletes across the country, Navneet believes. "Everyone now knows the players of our women's cricket team, which they didn't know as much before. As women players, it's an inspiration for us. If that team can play so well at this level, why can't we?" Navneet told PTI in an exclusive interview. "Playing at the world level and winning a title by performing at your best is a huge thing, and we too wo