The Indian Junior Women’s Hockey Team
made a resounding start to their FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup 2023
campaign by securing a commanding 12-0 victory against Canada in their opening
match of the tournament held in Chile’s Santiago, on Wednesday.
Annu (4’, 6’, 39’), Dipi Monika Toppo
(21’), Mumtaz Khan (26’, 41’, 54’, 60’), Deepika Soreng (34’, 50’, 54’), and
Neelam (45’) were the goalscorers for Bharat.
Bharat began the match with an attacking
approach, consistently pressuring Canada and swiftly securing an early
advantage as Annu (4’, 6’) scored two early goals through penalty corners.
Despite taking a two-goal lead, Bharat persisted
in their aggressive style, maintaining pressure on Canada, however, they were
unable to find more goals in the opening quarter as it ended 2-0 in their
favour.
The momentum from the first quarter
carried into the second for Bharat, which sustained their dominance. They
maintained possession, consistently penetrating the circle, resulting in Dipi
Monika Toppo (21’) and Mumtaz Khan (26’) netting a field goal each, further
extending Bharat’s lead.
In the meantime, Canada won a penalty
corner but they were unable to make the most of it. As the second quarter
concluded, the Indian team maintained a commanding 4-0 lead.
Despite having a healthy lead, the
Indian team showed no signs of slowing down in the third quarter and continued
to dominate the proceedings with Deepika Soreng (34’) converting a penalty
corner, following which Annu (39’) completed her hat-trick, while Mumtaz Khan
(41’) scored her second goal of the match.
Also, Neelam (45’) smashed home her shot
from a penalty corner to make it 8-0 for Bharat by the end of the penultimate
quarter.
The Indian team’s hunger for goals
persisted into the fourth quarter, resulting in strikes by Deepika Soreng (50’,
54’) and Mumtaz Khan (54’, 60’) which not only saw both players complete their
hat-tricks but also India winning the game 12-0.
Bharat will next lock horns with Germany
in their second match of the tournament on December 1 at 01:00hrs IST.
ANI
