Indian girls win first-ever World Cup medal

NEW DELHI: It was celebration time for country’s hockey lovers as India held their nerves to beat a fancied England 3-2 on penalties to claim the bronze medal in the Junior Women’s World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany on Sunday.

Defending champions the Netherlands, who India lost to in the semifinals, lifted the trophy by beating Argentina 4-2 on penalties.

The Indian girls showed maturity beyond their age in the thrilling match to clinch the bronze, thus becoming the first women’s hockey team from India to win a medal in a World Cup. India’s gamble to field goalkeeper Bigan Soy for the first time in the tournament during the penalties paid off as she came up with several saves to help the team finish on the podium.

“It means a lot to our kids’ psychology that they can actually win a medal,” India’s coach Neil Hawgood said after the match. “Our goalkeeper Bigan Soy, who had not played even a minute in the whole tournament, did a great job. It was (always) clear, (that) when it comes down to shootouts, she will be in the goal,” he was quoted as saying.

Soy added: “I did my very best and it’s a good to know that I saved my team. I’m very happy. It now feels as if I have played the entire tournament.”

Rani, who was later named “Player of the Tournament”, opened the account for India in the 13th minute of the match before England equalized in the 55th through Anna Toman as both team teams finished the regulation time tied 1-1. The penalty shootout saw more misses than hits as both the sides failed to score from four strokes each.

India scored from their first attempt while England converted their last one. Rani scored from India’s first stroke after Toman missed England’s first. No goals were scored from the next six as England went to their final shot trailing 0-1 in the shootout. After Emily Defroand found the target to level the score, India needed to score their final hit to win. But Poonam Rani failed to score.

In the sudden death, Rani and Defroand scored for their teams respectively before Poonam Rani missed to give England a chance to wrap up the match. But Shona McCallin failed to take advantage. Navneet Kaur, who had earlier missed a penalty, rose to the occasion by scoring in her attempt while Toman could not convert to hand the Indian girls a well-deserved win.

“This is my first Junior World Cup and my first medal, I’m so happy. It was tough to take a second penalty after I didn’t score from the first. I knew that I needed to get the goalkeeper to dive and then I could score. This is what I did,” said Navneet, another team member.

Vice-captain Rani said that the team was well-prepared. “We were mentally prepared for the shootouts, which was good. This is our first-ever medal in a Junior World Cup, now we will celebrate,” Rani said. This was the best finish by the team in the event, having finished outside top-eight in their earlier three attempts.

HI announces cash reward

Hockey India (HI) on Sunday announced that each member of team will be rewarded with a cash prize of Rs one lakh, according to agencies. Chief coach Hawgood will also receive a cash reward of Rs one lakh.