RANCHI: After their heartbreaking loss in the semifinal of Asian Games earlier this month, India grabbed a thrilling 2-1 win against China in their Asian Champions Trophy match at Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astro Turf Hockey Stadium here on Monday.
The fans came out in numbers to support Savita & Co and they did not disappoint.
As Janneke Schopman had planned, they went on the offensive from the word go. They failed to break the Chinese defence early on but eventually took the lead when Deepika converted a penalty stroke in the 15th minute. Salima Tete then doubled the lead in the 26th and the entire stadium was having a blast during the half-time break.
But the mood around the ground changed and the crowd went silent as China, with slightly different tactics, put India under pressure after the change of ends. They were able to reduce the lead when Jiaqui Zhong converted their second PC of the match in the 41st minute.
It was all China after that as they kept creating attacks one after the other and even earned two PCs. India though played their hearts out to hold on. Things did become tricky when Vandana Katariya was given a yellow and China took out their goalkeeper with less than six minutes left.
Despite all that, India went close to scoring on the counter and eventually grabbed the win on a day when the lights also went out at the stadium and the match was halted for a few minutes.
Speaking after the game, Schopman was highly pleased but did add that she would have loved to see India score more. "We need to pressure other teams and we are good when we do it. We struggle when the team throws the ball away. We managed that really well. There was a phase when we opened the middle a little too much and they were too easily out of their breaths. But overall I'm happy," she said.
Earlier, it was Neha who marshalled the midfield brilliantly. But there were some mis-hits and mis-traps too as the game slid from one side to the other at an electrifying pace.
Jyoti, however, made a brilliant steal and Neha helped India grab their first PC of the match with two minutes left in the first quarter. Like many PCs throughout the tournament, however, it wasn't trapped properly.
It didn't prove a costly miss as in the very minute India were awarded a penalty stroke after Sangita Kumari made a run down the right and created a goal-scoring opportunity. Although the ball was stopped by the Chinese goalkeeper, there was a tackle and the umpire wasted no time to award the stroke which was easily converted by Deepika.
China tried to get back into the game in the second quarter but India defended well. When they finally got a shot on goal, Savita was there to keep it out with ease.
India kept up the pressure and that finally helped them to find the net once again in the 26th minute. The ball was near the Chinese semicircle and Sangita tackled Bingfeng Gu and the ball fell to Salima, who sounded the board with a reverse hit from the top of the D.
That didn't bog down China as they earned their first PC of the game with 12 seconds left in the second quarter. However, the flick was defended away from the target and India went into the half-time break with a comfortable 2-0 lead.
The next thirty minutes saw China go all out but it was good to see that despite being a player down and out of breath at times, the Indian team was able to hold on for a win that thousands had come to witness.
