India down Canada to enter semis

Kazan (Russia), June 22:

India stormed into the semifinals of the women’s Champions Challenge hockey tournament after Ritu Rani’s hat-trick fashioned their facile 8-1 win against Canada here on Monday.

The Indian team, which had outplayed Belgium 5-3 in their tournament opener on Sunday, came up with an even more improved performance against Canada in the lop-sided match. Rani (54th minute, 63rd and 70th), Rani Rampal (57th, 61st), Deepika Thakur (6th), captain Surinder Kaur (29th) and Mamta Kharab (67th) scored at will as India registered their second straight victory in the tournament.

Jessalyn Walkey (10th minute) scored the lone goal for Canada.

After a rest day on Tuesday, the Indians will take on Belarus in their final pool match on Wednesday.

India continued their rampaging form and seized the initiative as early as the sixth minute of the match when Thakur made it 1-0 with a well worked field goal. The lead was shortlived as Walkey scored a field goal to level the scores.

India, however, reclaimed the lead in the 29th minute with captain Kaur scoring from a penalty corner to go into the breather with a 2-1 advantage.

India came out a completely different side after the change of ends and pounded six goals in the last 16 minutes of the match to inflict further humiliation on Canada.

Rani scored the first goal of her treble in the 54th minute from a short corner and then Rampal netted two more — the second of which came from a penalty stroke — in a span of seven minutes to make it 5-1 in favour of India. Rani once again found the net through a field goal in the 63rd minute and then completed her hat-trick in the final minute of the match from a penalty corner. In between star striker Kharab also registered her name on the scoresheet. — PTI

Courtesy: Asian Age