Champions trophy | Stubborn India go down to Australia in thrilling final

India came into the match still smarting from a demoralizing 2-4 loss to Australia in their final group match only yesterday but keen to get a big win under their belt before Rio 2016. Great Britain’s 3-3 draw with Belgium meant the Men in Blue had created history already, reaching a Champions Trophy final for the first time. World Champions Australia were coming into the match in good form, not losing even a single game in the group stages and held the psychological advantage after they had thrashed India a day before.

In the second quarter, the Aussies started off calmer than earlier, and their attack brought them a penalty corner which resulted in the ball hitting an Indian defender’s boot, stopping a clear goal chance. Up stepped Grovers in the 19th minute to take the penalty stroke awarded, only to put it well wide. Some quick exchanges followed, with both teams getting into good positions in the circle. A wonderful passing move put the Australians in a certain scoring position in 23rd minute, before Raghunath appeared to come out of nowhere to block the shot and put it out of play.

The match seemed to be heating up, with some hard shoving and stares from both sets of players. Raghunath displayed some sturdy defending frustrating the Kookaburras time and again. A quick-counter attack from India involving SV Sunil and Akashdeep gave India their 3rd penalty corner, but a good stroke from Raghunath was kept out by the Aussie defense.

The teams trudged into the tunnel at half-time with the game scoreless, India just dominating the possession at 56% and 9 circle penetrations. Australia did take more shots on goal, but none of it mattered as the game seemed too tight to predict a winner at the halfway mark.

Australia lose their cool

More and more heated exchanges followed, and Swann was punished for his harshness with a green card in the 37th minute. India took good advantage of the extra man, winning their 5th penalty corner, but they squandered it. Meanwhile, the Aussies seemed to be losing their cool, with another brash challenge by Mitton resulting in a yellow card, bringing the world champions to 9 men with 3 minutes to go in the quarter. But, India could not capitalise on the extra men, leaving it to the last quarter for the result to be decided.

But, a final ball seemed lacking for the Indians, as they looked unable to use the greater possession and circle penetrations to break the deadlock. Thimmiah was shown a controversial yellow card with 3 minutes remaining resulting in India having to see out the last few minutes with 10 men. Some desperate play from both teams was to no avail in the remaining minutes with the game remaining 0-0 until the end of normal time. The match was to be decided on penalties, with the crowd trying to put pressure on Australia, rooting for the Indians, who had played their hearts out.

Australia started the shoot-out putting the first stroke past Sreejesh, who had seemed impregnable through the night. The second stroke was controversial, and after Australia appealed for a video referral about Sreejesh’s determined keeping, a retake was awarded. The retake helped Australia take a 2-0 lead, with SK Uthappa and SV Sunil missing theirs. India’s hero of the day, Sreejesh incredibly saved Mitton’s stroke with his pads to keep India in the game in the third, and Young player of the tournament Harmanpreet Singh calmly converted for India making it 2-1. But Simon Orchard stepped up and slotted it past Sreejesh to make it 3-1, while Surender, entrusted with the unenviable task, shot wide.

Update :  After discussing Australia's re-take of the second penalty, the jury decided there was an unintentional obstruction from goalkeeper Sreejesh and hence the re-take was justified. The result stood, Australia had won gold, and India had clinched it's first ever silver medal at the Champions Trophy.

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