Amid haze, brave India fall in tie-breaker against Germany

The hosts aren't quite out for the count yet to enter the Paris Games ring, but now stare at a must-win bout against Japan 

- Rutvick Mehta

For captain and goalkeeper Savita Punia who pulled out one quality save after another through regulation time, it ended with Lisa Nolte nutmegging her in the sudden death of penalty shootout. For the Indian women's hockey team that hit Germany first, took a couple of blows yet had enough fight left to strike another one of their own in the dying minutes, it ended with a crushing 3-4 shootout defeat after being 2-2 through the 60 minutes of the semi-final.

At the haze-engulfed Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astroturf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi where India's former cricket captain and finisher-in-chief MS Dhoni watched on. India couldn't land that finishing punch after a fighting battle against the 2016 Rio Games bronze medallists.

They aren't quite out for the count yet to enter the 2024 Paris Olympics ring, but now stare at a must-win bout against Japan - they lost to USA 1-2 earlier on Friday in which they simply cannot afford to not turn up.

They did turn up alright on Thursday, presenting two goals from their oft-absent penalty corner (PC) conversion in the 15th and 59th minute through Deepika and Ishika Chaudhary, respectively. But a brace by Germany's Charlotte Stapenhorst half an hour apart (27th and 57th minutes) through the game's middle phase where India not just lost their dominance but also control cost them.