Scoring twice in the first-half, Britain ended India's Olympic dreams with a 2-0 win in the final of the World Hockey qualifying tournament at the Prince of Wales Country Club, here.
Barry Middleton (4th minute) and Richard Mantell (10th) struck for Britain who then showed the discipline and character to withstand intense pressure in the late night match to emerge deserving winners while qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
While the Britain players celebrated to the accompaniment of the song "We are the Champions", the Indian, heads bowed, shoulders slumped, could only watch the jubilant scenes of a team that played smarter if not better hockey.
On the day, it was Britain who showed a lot of steel in dealing with the massive pressure they were subjected to by the Indian forwards. The difference was that Britain, who had beaten India 3-2 in the league, capitalized on the two early chances that came their way, while the Indians did not.
No comments:
Post a Comment