Indian women’s
hockey team secured its second Women’s Asian Champions Trophy title after
beating Japan by 4-0 in the title clash at Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astroturf
Hockey Stadium in Ranchi, Jharkhand on Sunday.
Sangita Kumari (17’),
Neha (46’), Lalremsiami (57’) and Vandana Katariya (60’) registered their names
on the scoresheet to lead Bharat to an incredible win and their first women’s
Asian Champions Trophy title after 2016, as per Olympics.com.
Following the win,
Hockey India announced a reward of Rs 3 lakh for each player and Rs 1.5 lakh to
each support staff member.
“Hockey India has
announced a reward of Rs 3 lakh each for all the players and Rs 1.5 lakh each
for all the support staff of the winning team of the Jharkhand Women’s Asian
Champions Trophy Ranchi 2023. Congratulations to #TeamIndia #HockeyIndia
#IndiaKaGame #JWACT2023,” tweeted Hockey India.
Following a
45-minute delayed start, the opening quarter was a closely-contested affair and
Bharat enjoyed the majority of ball possession.
Japan looked to
counter-attack, Yuri Nagai had a good opportunity to put his team to an early
lead, but his attempt was thwarted by Indian goalkeeper Savita Punia’s timely
interception.
Deepika came close
to score for Bharat, but she shot a little too much and missed the target.
World No. 11 Japan
was compact defensively in the opening quarter but shortly after the second
quarter started, Sangita Kumari opened Bharat’s goal tally and gave them the
much-needed lead. The local girl received the ball in space and converted the
opportunity into a goal with a couple of touches.
Japan upped the
attack and equalised via a strike from Shiho Kobayakawa, but a video review
showed that the ball touched her hand while scoring and the goal was cancelled.
Towards the first
half end, Japan won many penalty corners but Savita Punia guarded the goal well
along with the rest of the defenders.
After the third
quarter went goalless, India got their second goal through Neha via a penalty
corner in the start of the final quarter.
Japan could have
scored a goal through a penalty corner but Savita defended well.
After a goalless
third quarter, India finally found their much-needed second goal in the third
quarter. A well-worked penalty corner was finished off by Neha.
Lalremsiami and
Vandana Katariya came through with two late goals after that to round off the
victory for India.
Following the
title win, Indian coach Janneke Schopman said, “You do not expect a scoreline
of 4-0 in the final. It was tough, it was 2-0 and they got a penalty stroke and
had they scored a goal, the game would have been wide open. I hoped we played
better on the ball in the first half, we were a little hesitant. Savita is a
great goalkeeper and did well today. The support here is amazing from fans and
girls get a lot of energy from it.”
Indian skipper
Savita said, “It feels good. When we came to play, we were tensed because Japan
is a great team. We wanted to start well. Japan gave us a good fight for three
quarters. Attacking hockey is our strength. We got a bit defensive after a goal
in the first quarter. We talked about playing an attacking game later.”
ANI
