Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Kakamigahara (Japan),
The Indian women’s hockey team recorded its third successive win in the Asia Cup, beating Malaysia 2-0 in the final pool game here today. India will head into the quarterfinals as table-toppers with nine points from three matches.
Today, late goals by Vandana Katariya (54th minute) and Gurjit Kaur (55) saw the team through against Malaysia. In their previous match, India had scored a 4-1 win over higher-ranked China.
Wait and watch
In the first quarter, both the teams played cautiously. With Malaysia playing defensive hockey, India waited patiently, not making any unforced errors.
After the first quarter ended in a stalemate, Malaysia put India on the back foot when they won the first penalty corner of the match early on in the second quarter. It was a good opportunity for them to move ahead but an alert Rajani Etimarpu made a brilliant save to deny them the lead. Over the next few minutes, Malaysia won two more short corners and India one but nothing came off them.
The third quarter, too, went goalless. Malaysia did win another penalty corner but the goal continued to elude them as well as the Indians.
It was in the fourth quarter that India managed to break the stalemate when Vandana scored a sensational field goal in the 54th minute. In the very next minute, drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur converted a penalty corner to put the match beyond Malaysia.
In the quarterfinals, India will face Kazakhstan on Thursday.
