VALENCIA: The Indian women’s hockey team lost 1-4 against a men’s team of Dutch hockey club Groningsche Cricket en Hockey Club (GCHC) here.

Preparing for the Hockey World League (HWL) Round 2, to be held in New Delhi March 7-15, the team struggled against the Dutch club on Thursday.

Led by captain Ritu Rani, the Indian women started off the game on a high as they employed good tactics to create several scoring chances throughout the match.

With their fine defensive skills, the eves also posed a tough challenge to the GCHC. However, the Dutch Club controlled the game after some initial challenge.

GCHC opened their scoring in the eighth minute through a field goal. They doubled their lead in the 21st minute, again through a field goal.

In the 28th minute, Soundarya Yendala scored the first goal for India as she beautifully converted a pass from Navjot Kaur. This gave the Indian women a chance to make a comeback in the game against the men from Holland.

GCHC again scored in the 36th and 64th minute, both field goals and gained an insurmountable lead of 4-1 which remained on the scoreboard till the final whistle.

Indian coach C.R Kumar was pretty happy with the team’s performance as the eves played a good game against the strong and well-organized men’s team and created a number of opportunities for themselves.

The next game will be played against Dutch hockey club – Haagsche Delftsche Mixed Hockey Club (HDM) on Friday.