The Indian Hockey team had a heart-breaking semi-final exit from the Asian Games being held in Indonesia. The defending champions lost to Malaysia in the semi-finals as the match went to penalty shoot-outs after both teams drew 2-2 at the full time whistle.
The Malaysians handed India a heartbreaking 6-7 loss in sudden death after an exhausting shoot-out. India will now play eight-time champions Pakistan in the bronze medal play-off.
Talking about the loss, Indian team captain PR Sreejesh has held himself responsible for the Indian hockey team’s failure, saying that since he is the captain and the goalkeeper, he should take responsibility.
That’s the beauty of the game, you cannot predict hockey till the last whistle. So what is important is that we concentrate till the last whistle and we couldn’t do that. Being the captain and the goalkeeper, I should take responsibility. Since the players gave me an opportunity, I could have done a better job than this.PR Sreejesh
The Indian skipper also said that it is important to not get disheartened about what has been lost. Instead, concentrating 100 percent on what’s coming ahead is important.
You can’t keep crying about what you lost, you have to concentrate 100 percent on what is coming because doing good there will get you a medal (third-place finish against Pakistan). Getting the medal is more important for us rather than crying about this loss.PR Sreejesh
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