New Delhi: An impressive outing by the Indian Junior Women’s Hockey Team saw them make a comeback from a goal down to defeat the Chile Senior Women’s Team 3-2 here at the Prince of Wales Country Club on Wednesday evening. Having played the Chile Junior Women’s Team in the first two matches of Tour of Chile, it was Deepika (39’), Sangita Kumari (45’) and Lalrindiki (47’) who scored for India in their win against the Chile Senior Women’s Team, after Fernanda Villagran (21’) had given the hosts the advantage. Chile’s Simone Avelli (56’) added their second goal late on in the match, but it was not enough to force a comeback as India secured a huge win.
It was a quiet first quarter for both the teams as India started the match on the front-foot, twice penetrating inside Chile’s striking circle, but without causing much damage. Chile’s first real attack came in the 10th minute when they earned themselves a Penalty Corner, but to no avail as the visitors defended it well.
The second quarter, however, was dominated by Chile as their experienced players took control of proceedings in the midfield, setting the tempo of the match. As a result, Chile won themselves back-to-back Penalty Corners in the 21st minute, the second of which saw India end up conceding the opening goal scored by hosts’ Fernanda Villagran. India’s young guns tried to create a clear-cut opportunity in the latter stages of the second quarter, but saw their efforts get stalled as Chile took their one-goal lead into the half-time break.
A dominating start to the third quarter saw India win as many as five Penalty Corners inside the first nine minutes, and they were rewarded for their dedication as they scored the equalizing goal in the 39th minute through Deepika who finished off a team move. Piling the pressure on their opponents, and taking control of proceedings, India then went on to take the lead in the 45th minute through a Penalty Corner as this time Mariana Kujur’s drag-flick was deflected into the back of the net by striker Sangita Kumari to make it 2-1 in India’s favour.
India maintained the pressure on the hosts by looking to create chances in the fourth quarter, and they were yet again rewarded for their efforts in the 47th minute as Forward Lalrindiki found herself clear just in front of goal to deflect Sangita Kumari’s pass from the left flank into Chile’s goal, and give India a resounding 3-1 lead. A late fightback from Chile saw Simone Avelli score their second goal of the evening in the 56th minute, however it was not enough for the hosts to take the victory away from India as they fell short by a goal.
The Indian Junior Women’s Hockey Team will continue their Tour of Chile as they play their fourth match on Thursday evening (locally) / early Friday morning (Indian Standard Time), taking on the Chile Senior Women’s Hockey Team at 0400hrs IST.
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