India wasted six penalty corners in the last three minutes of their Pool B encounter against the Netherlands to go down 2-1 on Thursday. This was India's second defeat in four matches in the Rio Olympics 2016 hockey competition.
The unbeaten Dutch rode goals from Rogier Hofman (32nd) and Mink Van Der Weerden (54th) but VR Raghunath's 38th minute goal kept India in hunt for a point that they needed to seal a berth in the quarterfinals.
With two wins and two defeats, India remain in fray for a quarterfinal berth. A win against Canada on Friday should suffice. Germany and Netherlands are already in the quarters and Argentina could be the other qualifier.
The India versus Netherlands match came to life after the half-time. No team had a clear look at the goal in the first two quarters but the Dutch scored early in the third quarter from their first penalty corner.
Hofman scored off a rebound after a stiff hit off the short corner was well-saved by Indian goalie and captain PR Sreejesh.
The goal injected a sense of urgency in the Indians. They forced back-to-back short corners and Raghunath was successful with the second with a powerful flick to the goalie's left. It was his second goal of the tournament.
The Dutch built a lot of pressure in the last quarter. But Sreejesh stood like a rock throughout, only to be beaten with six minutes remaining. Van Der Weerden's drag flick was just too good for the veteran Indian goalkeeper.
India were down to nine men towards the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth - SV Sunil and Raghunath saw the yellow card for foul play. But they did well to prevent a goal.
With less than five remaining, India took the gamble of taking off Sreejesh as goalie and added an extra striker. Raghunath, wearing a yellow beep over his blue shirt, played the role of sweeper keeper.
India then forced a spate of penalty corners but the Dutch survived the dying minutes of the match to pocket full points.