India produced an all-round show to hold formidable China 1-1 in their penultimate Group A match and inch towards the semifinals of the women’s Asia Cup hockey here on Tuesday.
India now need just a draw against Malaysia in their last group match on Wednesday to make it to the semifinals.
It was the Chinese who started the scoring with Liao Jia Hui putting her side ahead in the 18th minute from the first penalty corner they earned. But Saba Anjum scored the equaliser for India in the 45th minute, converting a short corner to settle for an honourable draw.
India are yet to lose a match in the tournament and have routed Singapore and Thailand 13-0 and 15-0 respectively in their first two group matches.
With identical two wins and a draw, both India and China have seven points each though Malaysia still have a chance of entering the semifinals. On an overcast day, the Indian eves made their intentions clear from the beginning and displayed aggressive style of hockey that forced the Chinese on the back foot.
But some wayward shooting by the forwards led India down. The attacking duo of Jasjeet Kaur and Rani Ramphal were off-colour on Tuesday with the former missing two open chances.
With veteran Asunta Lakra shining in the midfield, the Chinese were forced to operate through the flanks, only to find Mamta Kharab and Deepika Thakur, playing down the field, standing tall in front of them.
After managing to thwart India’s onslaught in the opening 10 minutes, China made full use of the first penalty corner they earned.
The Chinese scored from a penalty corner variation in the 18th minute with captain Ma Yibo and Sun Zeng combining well to set it up for Hui, who coolly swept the ball to the right of Indian goalkeeper Deepika Murthy to go into the breather with a 1-0 lead.
The change of ends seemed to have worked wonders for the Indians as 10 minutes into the second half Anjum drew parity through a penalty corner variation.
The result could have been different for India had it not been for custodian Savita, who came to her side’s rescue in the second half by blocking sure goals.
India have never defeated China in the annals of Asia Cup, even though it came very close of breaking the jinx on Tuesday and the disappointment was quite evident on chief coach M.K. Kaushik’s face.
“We could have won as we have definitely played better than China. But some of my players need to be more confident of themselves,” Kaushik said after the match.
Captain Surinder Kaur lauded her defenders for their excellent display against the nimble-footed Chinese forwards but said the strikers need to pull up their socks in the remaining matches of the tournament. “Our defence was very good today, it was not the same with our forwards.
We could have scored more goals, we had enough chances,” Kaur said.
Meanwhile, China’s Korean coach Kim Sam Ryul said his side was lucky to have escaped defeat. “We were lucky. India played exceedingly well. Though I am satisfied with the result, considering we are World No 3, we could have fared better. My forwards were not fast enough,” he said.