Muscat: The Indian women’s hockey team continued its stellar performance in the FIH Pro League to rise to the top of the points table after beating China 2-1 here on Tuesday. After beating China 7-1 in their Pro League debut on Monday, India defeated the same team 2-1 at the Sultan Qaboos Complex on Tuesday. The Indian team could not score as many goals in this match as on Monday but the team showed that they are capable of playing aggressive hockey without losing patience.
The Chinese team had to bear the brunt of the lack of experience. Apart from this, in the first half, the Chinese team could not keep the ball in their possession for long, they did not have precision and the defense also looked weak. India, on the other hand, started the match fast and showed an aggressive game. The Indian team put pressure on China’s defense, which benefited the team in the form of a penalty corner in the third minute. Gurjit Kaur converted it into a goal to give India the lead.
The Chinese team was lucky not to lag behind by a huge margin after the first quarter. India created many chances but it was either their players kept away from the goal or they failed to get past the Chinese goalkeeper Wu Surong. In the second half, China came back and played better in the defence. India was finding it difficult to thwart the Chinese invasion. Taking advantage of the mistake of the Indian defense, Wang Shumin overtook goalkeeper Savita to give China a 1-1 draw.
India got several penalty corners after this but the team failed to convert them into goals. India stepped up their attack in the final quarter. Monica took charge of the attack. India immediately got the advantage in the form of a penalty corner but Deep Grace Ekka could not convert it into a goal. Gurjeet, however, overcame China’s goalkeeper Wu Surong on another penalty corner to lead India 2-1, which proved to be the deciding score.
India’s head coach Yanek Schopman, however, would be disappointed that despite China entering the circle 33 times, the Indian team was able to score only six shots towards the goal. Monica was adjudged the player of the match for her outstanding performance in the match. “I am very happy with our performance in the two matches against China. It was great to play as a unit like in the last Olympics. We are playing with complete freedom and enjoying it to the fullest.”