Players tried their best,
says Rajinder

India's hockey team coach Rajinder Singh fully backed his players despite the 3-4 defeat to South Korea in the gold medal match at the Asian Games on Busan on Saturday, saying they tried their best to win.

He, however, admitted that the forwards, full backs and the goalkeeper were found wanting in the first-half, which resulted in Korea slamming in two goals.

"The Koreans did surprise us. We failed to click for the full 35 minutes. The forwards, full-backs and the goalkeeper were not up to the mark," he said.

But he praised his boys for not giving up despite trailing 0-3.

"We had complete ball possession in the second-half. We came back strongly and the players tried their best to retain their gold."

India, who had drubbed arch-rivals Pakistan in the semi- finals, had to settle for silver after they conceded a goal in the dying minutes.

In recent matches, India have shown a tendency to concede goals in the dying minutes and either lose or draw matches from wining positions.

But the coach downplayed this weakness of the team, saying: "Hockey is so fast now-a-days, anything can happen anytime; you cannot spare even a minute."

He also pointed out that India were weakened by the injuries to Prabhjot Singh and Tejbir Singh.

But overall, he expressed satisfaction with the showing.

"I am happy with the team's performance. We want to carry on in the same vein and continue to do well in all upcoming assignments," he said.

Team manager Hardeep Singh Dhillon was also a content man though he said, "India could have won the gold as they had their chances in the second-half."

Refusing to comment on the standard of umpiring, he added: "Luck also favoured the hosts."