After making a winning start to their Women’s Asia Cup campaign with a 9-0 win over Malaysia in their opening match, the Indian hockey team took on defending Asian Games champions Japan 0-2 in their second Pool A match here on Sunday. lost to ,
It was the first goal by Japan in the second minute of the match that put India on the back foot.
Though under pressure, the Indian forwardline pushed for opportunities to bounce back within the striking circle and even as PC won what could have equalized them, they could not convert the opportunity.
It took some time for India to panic from the first quarter and they did well in the second quarter with a better attack and disciplined structure. While Japan created chances in the 15m mark, the Indian defense strengthened to ensure that no further goals were scored by the Japanese strikers.
Although Indian forwards Navneet Kaur, Sharmila Devi, Lalremsiami and Vandana Katariya alternated shots to score, they could not beat the strong Japanese defence, especially veteran Japanese goalkeeper Ika Nakamura, who tried to stop the Indians from scoring. Come up with some great savings. ,
After a ten-minute half-time break, India made a comeback with the intention of breaking the 0-1 deficit.
While India struggled to put the ball into the goalpost, despite making some possible circle penetrations, Japan made no mistake in placing Saki Tanaka inside the circle for the goal.
The goal scored in the 42nd minute put more pressure on India. In the final quarter, a fighting India made a strong comeback and even earned up to two PCs. But neither Deep Grace nor Gurjit Kaur could hit the ball in the net, thus losing 0-2.
India will take on Singapore in their third Pool A match on Monday.
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