New Delhi: The Indian Women’s Hockey Team beat Japan by 3-0 in their last group stage match of the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy 2024 at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium on Sunday. Japan played brilliantly in the first half of the match but goals from Navneet Kaur and Deepika in the second half secured the win for India. After defeating Japan, India finished in the first position of the table without dropping any points and will face Japan in the semi-final on 19 November.
Team India began the game with a slow buildup and dominated the possession in Japan’s half but struggled to create goal-scoring opportunities. Deepika drew a foul in the circle and earned a penalty corner in the last six minutes of the first quarter. The Women in Blue tried to score goals by showing some urgency with Manisha and Neha combining to secure another penalty corner but failed to score the goal and the first quarter ended goalless.
Japan controlled the ball at the start of the second quarter but failed to breach India’s defence. Both teams had no clear goalscoring opportunities until India got a penalty corner just five minutes before halftime but the Japanese defence made close range-saves. Japan took the attack back to India in the closing stage of the first half but the Indian defence did a great job to keep the scoreline at 0-0.
Navneet, Deepika score goals in second half
India began the third quarter brilliantly as Lalremsiami, Salima Tete and Deepika combined to open India’s account. However, Deepika’s poor shot was easily cleared away. Despite India’s dominance, Japan did a great job in defending but Navneet Kaur scored the first goal with eight minutes left in the quarter. After the first goal, Japan tried to score a goal making the match more end-to-end. However, both teams failed to create clear goalscoring opportunities and The Women in Blue ended the third quarter with 1-0 lead.
The last quarter started with a penalty corner for India and on the third retake, Deepika scored a goal to double India’s lead. India got another penalty corner in the very next minute and Deepika made it 3-0 in India’s favour. After that, India controlled the match and ended the group stage with yet another victory.
The Indian Women’s Hockey Team beat Japan by 3-0 in their last group stage match of the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy 2024 at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium on Sunday. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
