Striker Deepika converted a penalty stroke three minutes from the final hooter to add to her previous strike and lead India to a tense 3-2 win over South Korea in the women’s Asian Champions Trophy here on Tuesday.
India start strong
India raced into a 2-0 lead in the first half through goals from Sangita Kumari (3rd minute) and Deepika (20th) before the Koreans mounted a strong comeback in the third quarter and drew parity with goals from Yuri Lee (34th) and skipper Eunbi Cheon (38th). The match headed for an exciting finish with both teams pushing for that deciding goal. However, it was Deepika, who scored from the spot to seal India’s second consecutive victory in the tournament. India had defeated Malaysia 4-0 in their opener on Monday.
Thailand hold Japan
In the first match of the day, minnows Thailand held Japan to a 1-1 draw, while reigning Olympic silver medallist China defeated Malaysia 5-0 for their second consecutive win.
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The Indians began with some attacking hockey while Koreans did not have a single shot at the Indian goal in the first two quarters. It didn’t take long for the Indians to surge ahead as they opened the scoring in the third minute through Sangita. Neha Goyal passed the passed ball to Navneet Kaur, who found Sangita inside the circle. The striker beautifully sidestepped her marker and found the back of the net with a fine reverse hit. In the 20th minute Deepika slammed one home from close range for 2-0.
If the first half belonged to India, Korea came out all guns blazing in the second. In the 34th minute and Lee pulled one back from a penalty corner rebound, after which skipper Cheon converted a stroke to level the score. Three minutes from the end though, India got the winning goal when Deepika converted a stroke.
The hosts will play Thailand on Thursday.
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