Indian women complete the rout over Azerbaijan

Ritu Sejwal, TNN

NEW DELHI: The Indian women’s hockey team ended its campaign against Azerbaijan with a 2-0 victory in the fourth and final match at the National Stadium on Thursday, completing a 4-0 series rout. And now, with the Olympic qualifiers round the corner, it’s time for the girls to work on the grey areas.

“We wanted to win all the matches and we have achieved that goal. There are quite a few grey areas in terms of converting penalty corners, scoring field goals and the build-up in the midfield. In the next two-three weeks we will surely work on that,” coach CR Kumar said.

A penalty stroke by Jasjreet Kaur (44th minute) gave India the lead while Rani Rampal added another in the 68th minute.

It was a good performance by the Indian girls but fitness of players remained an issue throughout the series. “Some players are recovering with Chanchan Devi returning from a collar bone fracture. Fitness will be the priority in our quest to reach the desired standards. Qualifiers are going to be very difficult,” Kumar said.

Meanwhile, skipper Asunta Lakra, who plays the key role in the midfield, admitted that the team needs to improve to make an impact at the Olympic qualifiers. “The team is playing well, We can put up a good show (at the qualifiers) but we will have to improve,” Asunta said.