The Indian women’s hockey team suffered heartbreak as they narrowly missed out on the chance to qualify for the Women’s Hockey World Cup semi-final after playing out a 0-0 draw against Australia on Sunday (August 23) at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen. The result meant that the two-time champions qualified for the semi-finals despite both teams finishing on the same number of points and goal difference.

India finished in third place in Group E of the second round after losing their first game in this round to hosts Netherlands 2-0 on Friday (August 21). The Sajoed Marijne-coached side qualified from Group D in the first round alongside China.

For those unversed, India came into the second round with one point after playing a 2-1 draw against China. As per the new rule, which saw another round-robin introduced, the points and goal difference (GD) were carried forward from the group stage only for the team that qualified alongside them. This meant India had one point and a GD of 0, with two goals scored and as many conceded.

Meanwhile, Australia qualified alongside the Netherlands in second place after losing 2-4 to the hosts. This meant that they had a GD of -2 and zero points and started in fourth place, while the home team started with three points and a GD of +2.

Netherlands faced no challenges as they beat India 2-0 and China 4-1 and qualified with nine points. This left India, China, and Australia fighting for one spot. Both of Australia’s games against China (1-1) and India (0-0 ended in a draw.

This meant that all three teams finished with two points, but China’s GD (-3) was behind India and Australia (-2), and they finished. After points and GD, the third point of differentiation between the two teams is goals scored. This is where India missed as they failed to score in both games while Australia went ahead with the one goal they scored against China.