Athens: Having being snubbed into a state of shock by their pathetic performance, a completely demoralised India will be seeking to round off their disastrous Olympic campaign with a face-saving victory against South Korea in the final classification match in Athens tomorrow (Aug 27, 2004).

The Indians, who had talked of making it to the semi-finals before the Olympics, are now fighting for the seventh place in what has been a highly forgettable tournament for the team, struggling to find any kind of form.

Not only have they failed to secure a berth in the semi-finals but the 0-3 defeats at the hands of traditional rivals Pakistan yesterday (Aug 25, 2004) has also shattered their hopes of making it to the prestigious Champions trophy hockey tournament.

While the Indians have no option but to play for lesser positions, defending champions the Netherlands will seek to retain the title for a record third consecutive time when they lock horns with Australia, in what promises to be a thrilling final tomorrow.

The Indians have not only looked disjointed but have not learnt from the mistakes as the players keep committing the same mistakes in every match to continue their downward slide.

The new coach Gerhard Rach is at his wits' end to bring the best of a talented set of players who have for some strange reason failed in virtually every department of the game, except for goalkeeper Adrian D'Souza, who has been the saving grace.

But for D'Souza's outstanding show under the bar, India's plight would have been more humiliating as he has checked the margin of defeats with some brilliant saves, particularly in penalty corner situations.

The defeat against bitter foes Pakistan was the ultimate blow for Dilip Tirkey and his men as no match against any other team evokes so much passion.

Though the Indians played a decent game in the opening session, the second half opened up the floodgates as the defensive lapses cost them three goals. "Nothing seems to have gone right for us in the Olympics. We are not being able to get going, that has been the problem. We were a little bit unlucky in the earlier matches which is affecting us," Rach said.

"The forwards have been missing too many chances. We cannot afford to waste the opportunities. We can win only if we make use of the chances."

The injuries to some of the key players have compounded India's misery as it has reduced the bench strength, which means that players have to play for longer spells.

Rach admitted that some of the players were physically very tired but he could not substitute them because he does not have the bench strength.

The Koreans, silver medal winner in the Olympic Games in Sydney, are known to be a nippy outfit quite capable of piercing India's patchy defence.

Only captain Tirkey has looked solid as always but none of the other defenders have shown the desired consistency and the Koreans may prove to be a handful for them at the Helliniko Hockey Centre tomorrow.