PTI
 
Kuala Lumpur, Jun 23: India's title hopes were dashed when they lost 1-0 to formidable Netherlands in the semi-finals of the 15th Sultan Azlan Shah eight-nation hockey tournament here on Friday.

A 64th minte penalty corner conversion by Roderick Weushtof sealed the victory for Netherlands. Incidentally, it was the first Dutch conversion in the tournament.

The Dutch thus made their maiden entry into the final of this tournament where they await the winners of the second semi-finals between Australia and New Zealand.

India paid dearly for their defensive approach in contrast to the more positive Dutch who had the better of exchanges in a match that began in rain and ended in bright sunshine.

But the Indians did not feel the sun on the backs and in the closing minutes, the deep defence that had performed admirably for over an hour, succumbed to pressure leading to the penalty corner that Weushtof coverted with a neat drag-flick.

India did have their chances, but some wayward shooting denied them success. Ironically, they received just one penalty corner, in the 42nd minute, but their drag-flick specialist was on the bench at that time, having been substituted a little while earlier. Dilip Tirkey's direct hit was deflected out for an abortive corner.