Jincheon (Republic of Korea): A determined Indian Women’s Hockey Team overcame the challenge posed by hosts Republic Of Korea as they beat them 2-1 in their opening match here at the three-match Bi-lateral Series which began today at Jincheon, Republic Of Korea.
The team backed by good results in their previous tournaments in Spain and Malaysia earlier this year exhibited confidence as they made a strong start against the hosts. After missing out on an opportunity to score through a PC early in the first quarter, India converted a splendid field goal through young striker Lalremsiami in the 20th minute. An early 1-0 lead, and good defending by India, put them in good stead.
The visitors second goal came in the 40th minute when Navneet Kaur struck beautifully that took India’s lead to 2-0. While the host team won five PCs in the course of the match, including a penalty stroke in the last quarter, they managed to convert only one PC in 48th minute through Shin Hyejeong. It was India’s experienced goalkeeper Savita who made commendable saves to keep her team in lead throughout the match.
Speaking about their performance today, India’s Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne said: “Considering this was our first match, I think the result was good but the performance can be better. We tried some new things in the match and it was interesting to see how we handled the change.”
India will play their second match against the hosts on Wednesday, 22 May 2019. For the upcoming match, Marijne feels the team must up their technical skills. He said, “We must bring our technical skills to a higher level in order to play faster and that will be one of our priorities for the next match.”