Janneke Schopman, the chief coach of the Indian women's hockey team, said on Friday that inconsistent umpiring, more than her girls' performance, left her frustrated during the 0-1 defeat to Japan in the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers here that denied India a berth in the Paris Olympic Games later this year.
Schopman said she was frustrated by the officiating as the umpires gave Japan penalty corners for fouls outside the circle and allowed the goal off penalty corner despite being scored from outside the circle.
"I also thought the umpires were a little bit, you know, giving mixed signals. We were pushed off the ball. They get penalty corners outside the circle, the penalty corner they scored was from outside the circle. The same stuff happens in the third quarter and we don't get a penalty corner," said Schopman after India lost 1-0 to Japan in the third-place match in the Hockey Olympic Qualifiers on Friday.
"So I'm frustrated with that sort of stuff, not with the girls. The girls are trying," said Schopman.
Asked how she would sort out the issues with the team like scoring goals, converting chances and penalty corner conversion, Schopman said the match is still fresh and she will take time to work it out.
"Yeah, I think, look, I don't know, like now it's just so fresh after the game and it's been a rollercoaster ride. I feel this was our fifth final in seven days (fifth do-or-die match). And look, I think we showed up and we tried and we didn't make it," she said.
"We deserved to be there in Paris."
The 46-year-old coach from the Netherlands said failing to make it to the Olympics will hurt her team a lot.
"And it's going to hurt for a long time because when the Olympics is on the TV, we know we wanted to be there and to be completely honest, I think we have the quality to be there. I know we have the quality and I think we should have been there, but we're not. So that hurts," said Schopman.
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