Indian men's hockey team fail to make it to Beijing Olympics

Great Britain shut the Olympic door on India's face as two quick strikes in the first 10 minutes of the final qualifier game here spelt disaster for the Indian hockey team that will now sit out the Olympic Games for the first time since 1928.
With the Olympic qualification boiling down to one final game Sunday, India failed to rise to the occasion. India had earlier lost to Great Britain 2-3 in the league phase.
Great Britain struck in the fourth minute through Barry Middleton and six minutes later Richard Mantell made it 2-0. Britain was then content to hold on to the lead as the Indians failed to breach the rival's citadel.
As the game ended, it marked the first time the eight-time Olympic gold medallists in hockey will stay out of the Olympic Games. India won the Olympic hockey gold six times in a row from 1928 to 1956. They lost the final in 1960, but regained the gold in 1964 at Tokyo. In 1968 and 19672 India failed to reach the final, but returned with bronze medals. In the truncated Olympics in 1980, India won the gold one last time. Since then India has failed to make the semi-finals and this time India failed to make it to the tournament at all.
Within minutes of the defeat, which will surely go down as one of the darkest chapters in Indian hockey, coach Joaquim Carvalho announced that he was going to step down along with his assistants Mohinder Pal Singh and Ramesh Parameswaran.
Under scorching sun in the Chilean summer, the Indians wilted without a serious challenge and as the clock ticked away they turned desperate and nervous. They squandered many chances and then became reckless, committing fouls, which twice resulted in them being reduced to 10 men in the second half.

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