Mönchengladbach: India bowed out in the semi-final of FIH Women's ERGO Hockey Junior World Cup 2013 on Friday as they lost to The Nederlands in the second semi-final. Netherlands will now face Argentina in the final on Sunday.
India, who had put up an inspired performance so far in the tournament went down 3-0, they will take on England for the third place play off. Lieke van Wijk gave Netherlands the lead in the 17th minute when she converted a penalty corner. At half time, they led 1-0. Lisanne de Lange doubled the Dutch lead on 57 minutes and Lisa Scheerlinck socred the third goal in the 68th minute.
This is India's best ever performance in this tournament and they will like to put aside today's disappointment and come strongly against England for the bronze.
Neil Hawgood, coach India, said, “We played very, very well today but we got a bit tired in the last ten minutes. We cannot complain, we also had a pretty good defence. Unfortunately we let in a soft goal, this was the 2-0. This match was a good lesson for my players. I think when the girls wake up tomorrow, they will be driven to win the Bronze medal. Playing for Bronze is the best they have done in their life so far.”
Sushila Charu Pukhrambam, Indian captain said: “We are disappointed with today’s result. It was very hard to play at these weather conditions. England is a good team but we will try to beat them to win the Bronze medal.”
Meanwhile Indian player Rani said, “We are happy but not satisfied. I hope we will do better tomorrow as there is still the Bronze medal left to play for.”