There are some defeats that sting just a little bit more and this Quarter-Final loss for Great Britain men’s hockey will rank right up there.
Against the ten men of India for approximately 40 minutes, David Ames’ men just could not find a way past super stopper PR Sreejesh – with the Indian keeper completing a heroic morning’s work by saving two penalties in the shootout.
That means that Great Britain’s men fall at the Quarter-Final stage to India for the second Olympics running but the regrets will be immense this time, with Amit Rohidas’ red card early in the second quarter having opened the door for GB.
Tipped as medal contenders and ranked second in the world, they managed to find an equaliser after Harmanpreet Singh’s opener – Lee Morton levelling before half-time.
But a failure to convert penalty corners proved costly as Connor Williamson and Phil Roper were denied in a penalty shootout that India won 4-2.
For Ames, who hails from Cookstown, there was no question that this was a missed opportunity.
He said: “That is going to hurt for a long time. They were down to ten men for 40 minutes or so and it was pretty much domination in terms of the ball and everything we had possession-wise.
“On another day, we’re a little bit more clinical which, if we’re honest, we haven’t been as clinical as we want to and as clinical as we need to be to stand on podiums.
“Credit to India, they defended well, they have got an incredible goalkeeper but it was a massive opportunity lost.”
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As they had in their final group game against Germany, GB controlled possession early, but found themselves up against a wall in Sreejesh.
Ollie Payne, in the GB goal, had to be alert at the other end, including making one brilliant save from a penalty corner.
The biggest flash point in the game came early in the second corner, with Rohidas shown red after he caught Will Calnan in the face with his stick during a tussle for the ball.
From there, India sat deep and played on the counter-attack, challenging GB to break them down.
Life got tougher when Harmanpreet fired home from a penalty corner to give India the lead, but they levelled before half-time as Morton finally found a way through Sreejesh’s defences.
With former women’s skipper Alex Danson and Olympic champion rower Katherine Grainger among those watching on, GB continued to control the ball but could not find a winner, with India clearly the happier at taking it to a shootout.
They were proved correct as they scored all four penalties, leaving Ames to reflect on where his future lies having been part of the programme for 16 years.
He said: “I have to sit down and reflect with myself and my family. You’re going to make a little bit emotional now because I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’ll sit down with the coaching staff.
“I’ve given a hell of a lot, I made my debut in 2008 which feels like a hell of a long time ago. I’ve put every part of my body through hell to be standing here every day. Maybe the time will come that this is the last one but the coaching staff will help me decide that.”
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