Agility made all the difference as China outpaced India in the final of the women’s Asia Cup hockey tournament in Bangkok on Sunday. China won 5-3 to take their second Asia Cup title (after 1989). The match started almost an hour late due to power failure and was then held up for more than 40 minutes at half-time due to rain.
Despite the huge difference in rankings — China are ranked third while India are 14th — India started off well and captain Surinder Kaur put India ahead in the eighth minute. But three quick goals in 15 minutes of the first session (13th, 18th and 27th) saw the Chinese take the upper hand. They did not relent till the end and, despite the Indian team coming back strongly in the second half to score twice — through Mamta Kharab (47th) and Deepika Thakur (54th) — the Chinese added two more to their tally. Fu Bao Rang equalised in the 13th minute and Ma Yi Bo scored twice while Zhao Yu Dia and De Jiao Jiao struck once each.
“We were outplayed today,” Kaushik admitted. “They played better, faster and our players were not able to counter that,” he added.