An injury to captain fantastic Knowles blights Aussie win over India

An explosive start by the world number one and reigning champions Australia cemented their position as Pool A winners as they cracked in four goals to defeat India 4-0. But coach Ric Charlesworth was concerned to see his captain Mark Knowles leave the field on a stretcher following a neck injury sustained in a collision with an India player. 

After being taken to hospital for assessment, Knowles was discharged approximately an hour after the conclusion of the match and returned to the team hotel for rest. He is suffering from muscular pain and a headache and will be under the supervision of the team's medical staff over the coming days. 

The defeat for India means Terry Walsh's men are likely to finish fifth in the pool and they will face either Korea or South Africa for 9th/10th place. Australia will discover who they will face in the semi-finals on Tuesday, with Argentina (who sit second in Pool B) currently looking the likely candidates. 

The Kookaburras opened their account in the third minute of the game with Kieran Govers opening the scoring from open play. His energetic start to the game caused the India defence some problems, although he faded noticeably in the second half, and seemed to be carrying a slight injury. Another worry for the Kookaburras was the early exit from play by Jamie Dwyer, who also sustained a slight injury.

Despite the Kookaburras early breakthrough, India had come to play hockey and led from the back by the tall figure of Rupinder Singh and driven onwards by the mercurial talent of Sardar Singh, India didn't allow the men in yellow to have everything their own way. Playing his part in the India blockade was the outstanding PR Sreejesh. In the 12th minute he pulled off a great save as Matt Gohdes unleashed a fearsome shot, but even he was unable to stop the pin point precision of Chris Ciriello (16') who made it 2-0 from a low drag flick.

Still India did not stop playing creative and expansive hockey. SV Sunil was everywhere, making runs and using his quick footwork to twist and turn through the India defence. The bravery of the India team, however, was no answer to the clinical finishing and sheer strength of the Australian team. A run up field by Mandeep Singh was overturned and the ensuing penalty corner was turned to 3-0 by Jeremy Hayward (20') – his fourth goal for Australia on only his 15th international appearance.

Two minutes later, Ciriello (22') scored his second of the match, another hard-hit drag-flick that lodged in the bottom corner of the India goal.

The Kookaburras momentum was interrupted when Mark Knowles took a blow to his head. The captain left the field on a stretcher and coach Ric Charlesworth said: "At the moment I don't know what the situation is. He will be assessed, but I hope he will be back for the semi-final." 

The second half was a much more subdued affair. The Australian team scored no further goals, Charlesworth explained that with three members of the squad on the bench with injuries, there were less players to rotate so the team may have taken their foot off the accelerator. Goal-scorer Jeremy Hayward agreed with his coach: "We tried to save some energy, but to be honest the Indians kept playing and coming at us, so we still had to work hard defensively. That wasn't ideal but that's the game."

India's coach Terry Walsh said: "They were 4-0 at half-time but just because we didn't concede in the second half that doesn't mean that we were significantly better in that half – the heat had just gone out of the game." That said, the India team did create chances. Yuvraj Walmiki came close and forced a great save from Andrew Charter in the Australia goal and a Dharavamir Singh shot gave the second 'keeper Tyler Lovell a sharp welcome as he replaced Charter in the Kookaburra's goal.