41 goals have been scored, majority of them field goals, and all the four matches ended decisively in the Opening day.
Of the 42 penalty corners cornered by the four winning teams, only 13 were converted. While Japan and South Korea converted six each, India could manage just a goal from 10 penalty awards. China had problem in pushing and stopping and all their six short corners thus went abegging against Kazakhstan.
The credit of scoring the first goal of the match went to Sake Morimoto of Japan, who played superbly at the right wing against Singapore. Receiving a pass from Iwavo Sachimi, she took the ball inside D and unleashed a reverse hit. The goal moves and scoring shot were so clear and they left no room for any doubt. Yet the official report indicated somebody else’s name. This sheet was corrected subsequently once for other mistakes, but the first goal honour still eluded for Morimoto.
It was a clean, fair game all along in the opening day. No cards were issued to any player, nor did the umpires change any decision!
First two matches of the Asia Cup which were played in the morning session produced 30 goals, equally shared by the winners. The losing teams, Singapore to Japan and Sri Lanka, did neither score a goal nor create a penalty corner.
The third match of the day, which was between Kazakhstan and China, at last provided a semblance of fight, with the Kazakhs scoring an equalizer and stretching the status till a few seconds before the half-time. China finished the match at 4-1.
Against the backdrop of poor track record of Malaysia against India, the match was expected to be a walkover for India. But the Malaysia’s Indian coach CR Kumar seved notice of his team coming of age. They twice equalized India’s lead before valiantly going down 4-2 in the end.
Malaysia was the only losing team today to get penalty corner. They also got the only stroke of the day and converted too.
Two star Indian players, Surinder Kaur and Jothi Sunita Kullu, did not play today, leaving the job of scoring to youngsters Mamata Kharab and Saba Anjum, who incidentally are playing international hockey after a gap of almost a year due to injuries. Mamta’s family members in full strength to see her back in action and to bless her. She did not disappoint as she scored first and last goal for India.
With temperature as low as 8C in the morning and wind blowing, there were hardly any spectator for the first match, though things improved as the day wore on.
Sri Lanka may have lost the match today, but the team had an excellent support from an unexpected quarters. About half a dozen Sri Lankan army personnel undergoing some training in Delhi played instruments with popular Hindi numbers, which was well received by the sparse crowd.
Indian stars Sita Gusain and Pritam Siwach, who were part of the last Asia Cup which was held on the same ground, were present today to witness the Indian match.
Former men’s players such as Vineet Kumar, brothers Harbinder and HJS Chimni and Ajit Pal Singh witnessed the Asia Cup matches. Also present were Junior men’s national coaching team of Harendera, Saju Joseph and Clarance Lobo.
Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel met the India and Malaysia players before their match.
There was no formal inaugural ceremony
It was a hectic day for hockey in New Delhi. Morning started with IHF President KPS Gill inaugurating the High Performance Course and then proceeding to Gurgaon, a suburb of Delhi, to witness Indian probables in action and then announced the men’s team for the forthcoming Netherlands Series.
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