Olympic qualifiers: Improved Indian girls land first win

NEW DELHI: The Indian women’s hockey team on Sunday had an answer to every challenge thrown at them by Canada. The hosts won their second match in the Olympic qualifiers 4-1 on Sunday.

If the game demanded speed, the Indians answered it with speed as the girls seemed to have learnt their lesson from the previous match against Ukraine (1-1) where the forwards fumbled and the team lacked coordination. “We had left memories of that match in our hotel rooms,” captain Asunta Lakra, who was named the ‘best performer of the match’, said.

Unlike the last match, coach CR Kumar’s girls penetrated the Canadian defence time and again and earned their first penalty corner in the 7th minute, but failed to score. Just three minutes later, Anuradha Devi missed a close chance. The hosts finally found success in the 16th minute when Saundarya Yendala gave the final touch to a penalty corner. Just three minutes later, Rani Rampal dodged the Canadian defenders and the goalkeeper to make it 2-0.

The Indians, though, became a bit prodigal and missed out on close chances before Sushila Chanu (29th minute) added another goal to the tally. She later claimed, “If we play like today, we will qualify.”

India had another chance in the 32nd minute when Ritu Rani’s shot hit the top bar. But, the forwards kept at it and in the 49th minute, Anuradha took control of a stray ball and scooped it over the goalkeeper.

The coach, meanwhile, was a satisfied man. “Everyone in the team played at her best. We had a better attack today,” Kumar said, adding, “We can’t start slow. We saw the video of our match against Ukraine and realised the errors we made,” Kumar added. “We still have a lot of scope to improve. We lost possession often. Sometimes, we were unable to trap the ball properly,” he said.

In the 65th minute, Anuradha pulled a hamstring while trying to deflect a pass in the rival half. “Anuradha has a muscle tear but she will be alright by the next match,” Kumar claimed. In the concluding moments of the game, Canada managed a consolation goal when Jaspreet Kaur passed the ball to Hannah Haughn who just about managed to get the ball across the line.

In earlier matches, Italy beat Poland 4-1 while South Africa beat Ukraine 2-0. Pietie Coetzee and Dirkie Chamberlain scored for South Africa while Giuliana Ruggieri and Alessia Doriana (3) were on target for Italy.