An in-form Bharat eked out a narrow 2-1 win over Japan
to register their fourth straight win and storm into the semifinals of the
women’s Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament on Tuesday.
After two goalless quarters, Navneet Kaur (31st
minute) and Sangita Kumari (47th) scored for Bharat, while Japan’s lone goal
came from the stick of Kana Urata (37th).
It was a match between two undefeated sides in the
tournament and it lived up to the billing. Bharat had earlier defeated Thailand
7-1 in their opener before getting the better of Malaysia and China 5-0 and 2-1
respectively.
The Japanese too were undefeated coming into the
match, having registered wins over Malaysia 3-0, South Korea 4-0 and Thailand
4-0 respectively.
It was a battle between Indian attack and Japan’s
defence in the first quarter as the hosts relentlessly put pressure on the
opposition citadel but failed to produce any result.
The Japanese mostly relied on counter attacks to
unsettle the Indians but failed to breach their defence.
Both the teams failed to create any clear-cut scoring
opportunities from field effort in the first quarter.
However, it was Japan who had the brightest of chances
in the form of penalty corner in the 13th minute but Ishika Chaudhary was up to
the task to keep the ball away from the net as the first quarter ended
goalless.
The Japanese put pressure in the opening moments of
the second quarter and created a couple of attacks but all those went in vain.
The story was the same as it was in the first quarter as both the teams failed
to create any real scoring opportunity.
In the last 4 minutes, the Indians came close to
scoring at least thrice but were unable to finish the scoring shots.
Bharat soon secured their first penalty corner but
vice-captain Deep Grace Ekka’s threatening shot to the right of Japanese goalie
was well defended.
It was Japan’s turn to earn a penalty corner next but
the Indian defence was upto the task.
The deadlock was finally broken a minute after the
change of ends through Navneet.
A deceptive pass from Salima Tete in the circle area
found Navneet, who turned around and fired a powerful backhand shot into the
Japanese net.
It took Japan just six minutes to draw level from
their third penalty corner. Urata brought her side back into the match,
perfectly converting the set piece with a high flick to the top right corner of
the Indian goal.
In the 39th minute, India secured another penalty
corner, only to be denied by the Japanese goalkeeper.
It was an electrifying performance from both the sides
in the fourth and final quarter, which witnessed end-to-end hockey. But it was
India, who were the dominant side on display.
Two minutes into the final quarter, India secured a
penalty corner and Deepika’s low dragflick was deflected in by Sangita to hand
the hosts a 2-1 lead.
Bharat secured another penalty corner in the 53rd
minute but the effort was saved by Japanese goalkeeper Akio Tanaka.
From there on, the Japanese pressed hard for the
equaliser but the Indians defended bravely to keep their opponents at bay and
continue their winning run.
Bharat will take on South Korea in their final league
game on Thursday.
PTI
