Indian women just manage to hold Scotland

S. THYAGARAJAN

India almost slipped at the first hurdle on Monday. Only a brilliant backhander by Jasjit Handa saved the day for the host team as it settled for a draw against Scotland in Pool A of the women’s hockey competition.

Unable to handle the verve and variety of the Scots, India found itself down after a fourth minute goal by Holly Cram.

The host team had trouble with the sinuous runs in by Vikki Bunce from the start. Almost every Scottish sally carried her stamp and touch. She had commendable assistance from Lousie Bexter, backed in the mid-field by Linda Clement.

Skipper Surinder Kaur was the lone warrior in the first half, struggling to find cohesion in the attack. There were also a couple of misses. Individually, Rani Ramphal and Jasjit Handa worked hard with little result.

It seemed to take quite a while for the Indians to realise that a defeat would make things tricky in the days ahead.

India found a semblance of rhythm only in the second half thanks to the splendid display in the mid-field by Ritu Rani, backed by Deepika Lakra. The vigour in the Indian attack was palpable and that not only produced a stunning equaliser but provided enough excitement for the few thousand spectators cheering the Indians.

A pleasing performance

Save for a lapse in concentration for a few minutes late in the second half when it conceded two goals from a lead of 3-0, Malaysia produced a pleasing performance to earn full points in Pool B beating Canada 3-2.

Persistent and systematic, the Kiwis broke the initial resistance of the Welsh women to cruise to a comfortable victory after a 1-1 dead-lock at half-time.

While the New Zealand was led admirably in the attack by Katie Glynn — who also opened the scoring — the Wales goal-keeper Margaret Rees exuded a fair amount of confidence before the Kiwis took complete control of the match.

South Africa’s Pietie Coetzee, regarded as the best flicker in contemporary hockey not long ago, made a come-back recently after a five-year hiatus. It was clear that she has not lost even an iota of her skills from the four goals she struck against Trindad and Tobago. With a such a striker in the squad the 12-0 result was hardly a surprise.

The results: Pool B: New Zealand 5 (Katie Glynn, Gemma Flynn, Anna Thorpe 2, Clarissa Eshuis) bt Wales 1 (Abigail Welsford). Malaysia 3 (Norbaini Hashim 2, Nor Farida Hashim) bt Canada 2 (Diana Roemer, Anna Kozniuk).

Pool A: South Africa 12 (Coetzee Pietie 4, Leslie-ann-George, Jennifer Wilson 2, Kathleen Taylor, Farah Fredericks, Dirkie Chamberlin 3) bt Trinidad and Tobago 0.

India 1 (Jaseet Kaur Handa) drew with Scotland 1