So, it is India who’ll face Australia in the final of Champions Trophy 2016. Well, it has nothing to do with their pool match against the Kookaburras where a win could fetch same result. It was once they lost- they had to wait for Belgium or GBR to decide their fate, something no team would love to rest upon in any competitive series.
It was fourth win out of five matches for Australia who stumped India 4-2 in their last pool encounter. With this win they maintained their spot on the points table at the top for this version of Champions Trophy.
The match was not so easy for the Australians as against the results suggest, with India showcasing their skills here and there to make a match out of it. Australians though made sure that they hit and hit on target- which took them to 2-0 lead when the teams went for break at half time.
Coming back from break, they extended they lead by a goal before India came into hitting the right spot with a customary Raghunath drag flick and as soon as it looked like India getting ignited to further their fighting spirit, another goal by Tristan White came as a spoiler.
It was then only “the waiting for hooter” time for the mighty Australians though Mandeep Singh tried to re-work some magic to take on the fight with a goal late in the match.
This goal could only work as an effort to decrease the goal deficit. Tristan White continued with his awesome show at the Champions Trophy with 3 goals out of last three outings.
Speaking about the win, the Australian Striker, Blake Govers said,“It’s always a tough one, the match before you go into the final.”
“We went out there to try and keep the momentum going, and we started off not too bad and got a bit of a lead. Then we started to slack off and they showed what good teams can do and they came back to hurt us. I’m glad to come away with the win and I’m looking forward to the final tomorrow,” concluded the striker of the winning team.
Later in the day, as Indian Hockey lovers would have prayed for, GBR drew their match against Belgium, which helped India go through to the finals to face Australians again for the title win.
However, if India doesn’t up their game in the finals, the historic entry to the Champions Trophy goes wasted, and a win in the finale, which looks highly improbable at the moment, means they’re well on coarse with their preparations for the Olympic Games which start on August 7, 2016.