Deepika (R) celebrates with her teammates. (Hockey India)
In sports, 24 hours can be a long time. On Monday, India played arguably their best 15 minutes of hockey immediately after the half-time break against Malaysia. On Tuesday, however, India played sloppy hockey in Q3 after a controlled first half, and allowed South Korea to equalise from 0-2 down, before getting a late winner. “Gifted them goals,” as head coach Harendra Singh put it.
Eventually, however, India managed to sneak past the finish line by the barest of margins to make it two wins out of two at the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy in Rajgir, Bihar. It was 57 minutes on the clock when Deepika scored her second goal of the night and India’s third via a penalty stroke. But with just a couple of seconds left, Korea nearly got a draw, missing a far-post finish by a whisker. On the balance of play, perhaps India did just enough to deserve a win.
Sangita Kumari (3’) continued from where she left off in the last edition of the tournament at her home ground in Ranchi where she was named the Rising Player of the Tournament. After Neha and Navneet Kaur combined well, Sangita made space for herself in the circle and struck another reverse-hit goal, for her third of the tournament. Deepika (20’, 57’) scored twice after that while Lee Yuri (34’) and captain Cheon Eunbi (38’) were Korea’s scorers.
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) November 12, 2024
“Happy with the result,” Harendra said. “But I think we could have scored at least 7 or 8 goals. Like in the match against Malaysia, once again our players are rushing when trying to score. We will go back and see the video to analyse. We have a rest day, where we can have individual 1v1 meetings and teach them to polish the finer points.”
Deepika finds her smile
Much like India’s contrasting fortunes in Q3 over these two matches, Deepika too found that things can change quickly… for the better.
Against Malaysia, she was industrious and created plenty of good moments – some for herself and a few for her teammates – but lacked the finishing touch and went goalless. Harendra sees her as India’s main goalscoring threat; a forward who is also the team’s main drag-flicker is a rare combination in this sport.
On Tuesday, Deepika had bright moments early in the match. Once wanting to be a wrestler, she showed off her shoulder strength early on to get her marker a green card. Shortly after, she tried to bulldoze her way through the Korean defence, but was stopped just in front of the goal. Then, she made a good steal on the edge of Korea’s defensive circle but dribbled the ball onto her foot after that. At that point, one could see the frustration building on her face.
An epic battle on Day 2! 🇮🇳🔥
India edged out Korea with a thrilling 3-2 victory at the Bihar Women’s Asian Champions Trophy Rajgir 2024!
Deepika’s two goals and Sangita’s opener were just the edge we needed to secure the win. 💪🏻🏑Watch all the highlights from this showdown… pic.twitter.com/RTNkG863Zc
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) November 12, 2024
Sunelita Toppo won the ball high up the pitch (an area Harendra said the team has been working hard in), combined superbly with Beauty Dungdung down the right, before the latter cut the ball back into a dangerous area in front of goal. And there was Deepika, waiting for her chance, and finally finding the back of the net. It was more relief than joy on her face.
India made sloppy mistakes in Q3 as Korea came out firing in the third quarter. After nearly scoring in the opening minute, they kept the pressure on the rival defence to win a penalty corner. Savita saved the first attempt but Navneet missed a clearance at the post and the visitors had an opening. Shortly after, Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke committed a foul that led to a stroke – as well as the loss of the video review – and out of nowhere, it was 2-2.
India dominated Q4 though and when Navneet was deemed to be fouled in front of goal, Deepika stepped up to take the penalty stroke. The 20-year-old made no mistake and this time, jumped for joy. The smile was back and it looked as if a burden was off her shoulders.
“She’s the finest scorer we have, she takes the quick shots,” Harendra said. “In the final moments when we are 2-2, it was make-or-break and she has shown that she’s a really cool customer. I hope she keeps scoring from here.”
India play Thailand next on Thursday.
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