Ranchi, 31 October (Hindustan Reporter). The Indian women’s hockey team, which is in excellent form, registered its fourth consecutive win with a close 2-1 win over Japan here on Tuesday. With this victory, the Indian team has entered the semi-finals of the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament.
After a goalless first two quarters, Navneet Kaur (31st minute) and Sangeeta Kumari (47th minute) scored for India, while the lone goal for Japan was scored by Kana Urata (37th minute). The match was between two undefeated teams in the tournament and it went as expected.
India defeated Thailand 7-1 in the first match before defeating Malaysia and China 5-0 and 2-1 respectively. The Japanese also remained undefeated in the match, defeating Malaysia 3–0, South Korea 4–0 and Thailand 4–0 respectively.
It was a battle between the Indian attack and Japan’s defense in the first quarter as the hosts continuously put pressure on the opposition but failed to produce any results.
The Japanese relied mostly on counter-attacks to harass the Indians but failed to breach their defence. The situation was similar in the second quarter also and not a single goal was scored in the first two quarters.
The first goal of the match came in the 31st minute, when a pass from Salima Tete in the circle area found Navneet, who scored with a powerful backhand shot to give India the lead.
It took just six minutes for Japan to equalize with their third penalty corner. In the 37th minute, Urata converted a penalty corner and gave his team a level match in the match.
In the 47th minute of the match, India got a penalty corner and Deepika’s low drag-flick was converted by Sangeeta to give the hosts a 2-1 lead and in the end this score proved to be decisive. India will face South Korea in their final league match on Thursday.
Hindusthan News/Sunil/Prabhat
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