Indian women’s hockey team registered a 3-1 win over Japan in the 9-12th placing match of the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain and the Netherlands at the 2022 Estadi Olympique de Terrassa, Spain on Wednesday. Navneet Kaur (30′, 45′) scored the brace for India, while Deep Grace Ekka (38′) also scored a crucial goal in the match. For Japan, Yu Asai (20′) scored the only goal in the match.
India started the match on the front foot as Neha bowls the ball towards Navneet Kaur inside the circle and gives an early chance. After few minutes Gurjit Kaur tried to give India Lead from the penalty corner. But Japan’s Moka Tsubouchi defended well to clear the ball. The best opportunity for the Indian team came when Navneet Kaur broke the Japanese defense and entered the circle. But Japan defied the threat and the first quarter ended with both teams 0-0.
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India started the second quarter right from where they left off. An early threatening move forced Japan’s Shihori Oikawa to save the ball from the edge of the goalpost. Goalkeeper Ika Nakamura was tested minutes after a shot at Vandana Katariya’s target. Yu Asai scored for Japan in the 20th minute from a penalty corner. Navneet Kaur leveled the score with a surprising late goal as both the teams went 1-1 at halftime.
At the start of the second half, both the teams tried to maintain possession by keeping the ball in the midfield. Gurjit Kaur’s opening penalty corner effort went off target. But minutes later, Deep Grace Ekka hit another penalty corner towards the bottom right corner to give India a 2-1 lead. Japan won once again in the final seconds of the quarter as Navneet Kaur scored her second goal of the match as India extended their lead to 3-1.
Japan began looking for goals to return to direct competition in the final quarter. But India maintained a tight defense line to prevent any threat. Lalremsiami made a dangerous move from the right side to put the opposition back on the back foot. In the final few minutes of the match, India held deep inside Japan’s half while the opposition struggled to get the ball, and India won a comfortable 3-1 victory over Japan.
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