Bhubaneswar: World No. 1 Argentina cut short India’s run with a 1-0 win in the semifinals of the Hockey World League Final here on Friday. Confident after a superlative show against Olympic silver medallists Belgium in the quarterfinal, India began the match on a sharp note. They made promising runs into the Argentine half, but the Olympic champions closed things down to avert any danger. The South Americans, however, stepped up a gear in the second quarter and took the lead through Gonzalo Peillat who converted a penalty corner in the 18th minute. India, in contrast, had only two barren penalty corners in the game.
The hosts were down to 10 men when skipper Manpreet Singh earned a yellow card for a hard tackle in the second quarter. It was all Argentina from here on who attacked with finesse and also held on in the defence to keep the hosts at bay. Prior to the match, Argentina’s Peillat had said that the team that managed to defend better would walk into the final and the world no. 1 underlined that with a strong display. Earlier in the seventh place playoff, the Netherlands defeated England by a 1-0 score in a heavy rain. Mirco Pruijser scored the lone goal for the Orange shirts.
