The Indian women’s hockey team will look to win their first title in Harendra Singh reign as they take on China in the final of the Asian Champions Trophy in Rajgir, Bihar, on Wednesday.
You can follow the match on our live blog, below:
Salima Tete and co. made it to the final after defeating Japan 2-0 in the semifinal on Tuesday. So far, they’ve won all their six matches in the tournament, including a 3-0 victory over their final opponents China in the group stage.
On Tuesday, Navneet Kaur (48′) scored from the spot in the last quarter to break the deadlock followed by a goal from Lalremsiami (56′), to confirm their spot in the final.
India started the game with a high press, creating many circle entries and goal chances but struggled to beat the in-form Japanese goalkeeper Yu Kudo. India’s relentless attacks resulted in multiple penalty corner chances, but mistakes creeped in trapping and the chances went for a toss.
Within two minutes of the start of the last quarter, the ball fell to Sangita Kumari at the goal line from a penalty corner but Kudo was there to bail the team out again. Seconds later, Deepika was fouled in the circle and India were awarded a penalty stroke. Navneet stepped up to beat the Japanese keeper from the spot who got a big hand on the ball but couldn’t send it away.
With less than five minutes to go in the match, Sunelita Toppo blazed past two defenders on the right wing and cut the ball back to Lalremsiami, who converted the chance to double India’s lead and kill Japan’s hopes.
It was against Japan that India lost earlier this year in Ranchi which resulted in their Olympic dream being crushed. There was no repeat of the result on Tuesday as India’s persistence eventually paid dividends.
In the third-place playoff match, Japan will take on Malaysia who had lost their semifinal against China 3-1.
