India lose 1-4 to China, miss out on direct women's hockey World Cup berth
Hangzhou (China), Sep 14 (PTI): The Indian women's hockey team faltered when it mattered the most, losing 1-4 to China in the final of Asia Cup to miss out on direct qualification for next year's World Cup, here on Sunday.
India drew the first blood through a penalty corner conversion by Navneet Kaur in the very first minute itself before China came into their own, scoring through Zixia Ou (21st minute), Hong Li (41st), Meirong Zou (51st) and Jiaqi Zhong (53rd) to win their third title in tournament and secure their passage to the 2026 World Cup, to be held in Belgium and Netherlands.
India got their first scoring chance within 39 seconds of the start of the match in the form of a penalty corner and Navneet was on target to hand her side an early lead.
Three minutes later, China had a bright chance to draw level when they earned back-to-back penalty corners, but the Indians defended brilliantly.
Stunned by the early goal, China went on the offensive and mounted continuous raids on the Indian half, but the Salima Tete-led side held its ground stoutly.
The Chinese kept up their relentless pressure on the Indian citadel and earned another set of penalty corners two minutes into the second quarter but failed to breach the resolute opposition defence.
China created chances after chances, keeping the ball almost in the Indian circle but were unable to find the equaliser.
The home team's relentless pressure finally paid off as it secured the equaliser in he 21st minute through a penalty corner conversion by Zixia Ou.
The equaliser seemed to have lifted the morale of China as they continuously pushed for the lead, keeping the India defence under tremendous pressure. However, both the teams went into half-time break locked at 1-1.
China, though, were the more dominant side in the first half.
India switched gears after the change of ends and played attacking hockey, albeit without much success as the Chinese defence was at its best, keeping the ball away from their circle.
Meanwhile, China's persistent attacks finally paid dividends when Hong Li scored a fine field goal from a counter attack four minutes from the third quarter.
Trailing by a goal, the Indians, ranked ninth in the world, pressed hard for the all-important equaliser in the fourth and final quarter but failed to breach the Chinese defence.
The Chinese extended their lead by pumping in two more goals in a span of two minutes to take the tie away from India and secure their title.
In the 51st minute Meirong Zou scored from a field effort and then Jiaqi Zhong added another field goal two minutes later to take a comfortable lead.
China had earlier won the Asia Cup in 1989 in Hong Kong and 2009 in Bangkok.
India were done in by the subdued performance of their strike force in the final as the likes of Mumtaz Khan, Lalremsiami, and Sunelita Toppo failed to rise to the occasion after decent outings in the earlier matches.
India will now have to go through the World Cup Qualifiers to seal their place in the top global event.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
