Monchengladbach, Sep 13 (UNI) The Veneer of India's happy family look lays in tatters with star forward Gagan Ajit Singh openly expressing his anguish at being withdrawn in the second half of the match against South Korea in the ongoing hockey World Cup.

Clearly lacklustre in the tournament, the star forward is still smarting from the match against Korea which was frustrating from his as well as the team's points of view.

''We fought tooth and nail in the match but in the end, we could not live up to the expectations. We had a poor start and towards the end, we did up the tempo but then it was perhaps too late. And then we were denied a genuine penalty stroke by the umpire, which sealed the fate of the game,'' he said.

And asked about the coach Vasudevan Bhaskaran's decision to substitute him, a dejected Gagan Ajit said, ''You better ask it to the coach. All I can say is that I wanted to continue.'' The Indian felt he and his teammates are not lagging behind in skill but it has more to do with physique and technique.

''We rely more on skills but the European teams play a brand of hockey which is more physical or technical-oriented. We have to cope with that,'' he added.

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