Scrappy India play out listless draw

Poor finishing spoiled India chances of an outright win in their second league match against Australia at the Lal Bahadur Shashtri four-nation under-21 women’s hockey tournament. The encounter at the National Stadium ended in a goalless draw, and the teams added a point each to their kitty.

After a good start, much was expected of the home team. But the way the Indian girls played, particularly inside the striking circle, it gave the impression that they need to polish their scoring skills.

After squandering several chances in the first half, a comeback was expected, but the script stayed the same as India kept frittering away opportunities. Even their penalty corner conversion lacked penetration.

Despite the missing chances, coach BK Subramani expressed satisfaction, saying players did a great job in containing Australia. “We will improve our finishing skills in the next league match,” he said on the missed chances. Jaspreet Kaur was declared the best player.

Even Australia lacked the finishing touch and the forward line was found wanting on several occasions. Coach Katrina Powell admitted her team wasn’t prepared as it was assembled at the eleventh hour. “We couldn’t prepare well, so the right kind of combination close to the goalmouth was missing,” she said.

Earlier, New Zealand scored a comfortable 6-2 win over Germany to sound a warning to their rivals. The highlight of the match was Sain Fremaux’s three goals, who was also the player of the match. After a rest day, the tournament will resume on Friday. The final is slated for Saturday.