Result:

Britain beat India 2-1.

INDIA : Dileep Tirkey (10 min)
BRITAIN : Craig Parnham (16 min), Calum Giles (46 min)

INDIA : 5 penalty corners - 1 converted
BRITAIN : 4 penalty corners - 1 converted

By winning the match against Britain, India would have automatically qualified for the 2001 and 2002 Champions Trophy, as well as the 2002 World Cup. A lot was at stake here.

The win-loss record was favouring Britain, who had a hat-trick of victories over India in the recent Olympics. Britain beat India 3-0 in Seoul (1988), 3-1 in Barcelona (1992) and 4-3 in Atlanta (1996).

Ramandeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, and Mohammad Riaz were all rested from the starting lineup. It was captain Ramandeep's defensive blunders that cost us wins over Australia and Poland. It was Mukesh's yellow card that forced India to play with 10 players, which was when Poland scored against India. And finally, Mohammed Riaz was pretty much a passenger in most of India's matches.

India forced its first penalty corner in the 10th minute off a breakaway run by Dhanraj. Dileep Tirkey converted with a clean hit, holding on to the ball for a split second, allowing the British defence to charge, and then cracking it at an acute angle into the right corner of the goal.

In the 16th minute, Britain swept the ball up the left flank, pulled the Indian defence out of position, switched the ball to the right, where Craig Parnham was in perfect position to slam home the goal.

The match-winner came in the 46th minute, when Calum Giles converted Britain's 4th penalty corner, sounding the boards with an angled drag-flick.

In a classic display of possession hockey, Britain then settled down to tap the ball among themselves, holding on to possession, not give India an opportunity to mount raids, and run out the clock.

In contrast, India adopted the 'each one to himself approach', with every player making solo moves, hanging on to the ball for too long, trying to make tearaway moves, and playing for the galleries.

For the second successive match, an Indian player lost his cool and was sent out of the match. Baljeet Singh Dhillon was given a yellow card for a needless foul. India played a man short for the last 14 minutes of the match. During this period, India had 2 penalty corners, both of which could have been taken by Dhillon.

India yet again failed to hold on to a lead. India twice led Australia, before letting them come back and tie. India were leading Poland 1-0, but with only 90 seconds to play, Poland equalized to send India out of the semi-finals. And today, India were leading Britain 1-0 only to lose 1-2, and left to fight for the minor placings.

India were taught a lesson in guts and glory by Britain, who were at the bottom of the pool table until the last league match against Germany. The British team resolved to end the Sydney Olympics on a winning note, went on to beat Germany and India in its next 2 matches, and have qualified for the Champions Trophy and World Cup.

"We don't panic like some other teams and seem to be good at coming from behind," said Wyatt. "We were pretty low after our first three games but to come back like this shows real guts and courage."

How much has Indian hockey fallen - Britain has yet to lose an international hockey match to India on astroturf. This was the same country that had avoided playing India from 1928 - 1948, so as to not lose to its colony. The wheel has turned full circle.

Let Dhanraj no longer play as a withdrawn forward in our last match against Argentina. Let this giant among Indian forwards not have to leave Sydney without having scored a single goal.

Can India at least aim for the 7th place in Sydney, a marginal improvement over our worst-ever 8th place finish in the Atlanta Olympics?