Sjoerd Marijne, former India chief coach of the Indian women's hockey team has expressed his displeasure over the umpire's controversial decision in the shootout of the semifinal clash against Australia at the Commonwealth Games 2022 on Saturday.
India goalkeeper Savita had saved the shot taken by Ambrosia Malone but the umpires soon stepped in and asked it to be re-taken as the timer had malfunctioned and did not start.
Australia retook the shot and this time they scored and went on to win the shoot-out 3-0, ending an impressive comeback by the Indian team, which had trailed 0-1 for a major part of the match before coming back to equalise and in the fourth quarter.
Marijne, a former Dutch hockey player, who coached the Indian women's national team in two phases (2017, 2018-2021), said that referees should have handled the situation well.
“If the time made the difference in the 1st shoot-out a retake would be fair but time didn’t matter and the referees had to adapt to the situation. If Australia missed the 1st shoot-out there will be more pressure on the next players and everything changes,” Marijne tweeted.
“Complaining and using bad language is not helping and it’s about accepting the situation. Yes I know it feels unfair, but be proud of how they played and dealing with this, will also make them even more strong mentally,” said the 48-year-old, who led the women’s team to the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics.
India will next take on New Zealand in the bronze-medal match on August 7.
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