Indian hockey coach Roelant Oltmans exulted in joy after Indian Hockey Team defeated Pakistan 3-2 in Asian Champions Trophy to give a perfect Diwali gift to the nation. He said the Indian players had no option but to win against Pakistan.
“For the Indian players, there was no option other than winning the title here,” PTI quoted him as saying.
Oltmans said the Indian Team was the target of the other team as it was the favourite before the tournament started. He said the other teams did not have such kind of pressure on them. He said he had watched a lot of India-Pakistan encounters and he understood the excitement involved.
“I’m really proud that the team showed its mental strength in the last quarter to clinch victory after we conceded two goals and allowed the opposition to come back into the contest.
“For India’s hockey fans this is a major title win, but we have to go on and win bigger global events,” Oltmans added.
The final match was very exciting. Rupinder Pal Singh scored a goal in 18 minutes, Yousuf Affan scored another in 23rd and Nikkin Thimmaiah scored the third in 51 minutes. Pakistan matched India with goals in the 26th and 38th minutes. But the Indians were just too good for the Pakistan players.
Indian team was stupendous throughout the tournament. India was a dominant team. Ranked sixth in the world, the Indians were the favourites. And they played like favourites. They thumped China with a massive margin of 9-0. They trounced last time finalists Japan 10-2. They also defeated Malaysia 2-1. Pakistan, ranked 13, had no chance against the mighty Indians.
India had won the Asian Champions Trophy in 2011. That was the inaugural tournament. They defeated Pakistan in the finals. The Pakistani team avenged the defeat in 2012 as it defeated India. Pakistan won the next edition of the tournament as they defeated Japan in the finals.
