A 57th-minute penalty stroke helped India register its second win of the Asian Champions Trophy and full points with a 3-2 victory against South Korea after almost messing up all the good work done in the first half at the Rajgir Sports Complex on Tuesday.
It was again a match of two contrasting halves, with the host starting well and dominating completely for the first 30 minutes. As early as the third minute, Neha Goyal put Navneet Kaur through the middle, who sent the ball into the circle for Sangita Kumari to control, turn and shake her marker and smash the ball into the board for an early lead.
There was a lot more cohesion among the players with planned attacks and clarity in their moves that was missing in the opening game. The team looked more settled, and the hurried shots that coach Harendra Singh had spoken of were replaced with more controlled attempts. The score doubled in the 20th minute when Beauty Dung Dung received Sunelita Toppo’s pass from just outside the circle and entered from near the backline, giving the ball to Deepika near the far post, who made no mistake deflecting in.
There was a chance just a few seconds later, but Korean goalkeeper Eunji Kim made back-to-back saves from Deepika and Sangita to deny India. Kim, in fact, was the sole reason for keeping the Koreans in the game, staying firm against wave after wave of India attacks and staving off every challenge.
Neha and Sunelita, taking turns in the central midfield, were impressive, with the forwards Sharmila Devi, Deepika and Sangita keeping the Korean defence busy. The Indians opened up the field by stretching to both flanks even as they kept ramming down the middle to repeatedly penetrate the circle. For a while, it looked like India would stamp its dominance comprehensively.
Post break, however, it looked like a completely different team, intent on committing to making things difficult for themselves. They started making mistakes in passing and making connections, the rush was back in an attempt to score and were unable to hold possession, conceding turnovers. India still had a lion’s share of possession, but where it was targeted and fruitful in the first half, it was wasteful and off-target in the second.
Korea had just seven entries into the circle and two scoring chances through the entire game – a penalty corner and a penalty stroke – and converted both. India had 24, with six PCs, and converted none. Till that PS in the 57th minute broke the deadlock, to a collective cheer from the packed stands.
Earlier, a 12th-minute strike from Kunjira Inpa and some resolute defending helped Thailand almost pull off an upset win against Japan before Miyu Hasegawa, one of their four players here with any match experience, managed to get the equaliser in the 55th minute.
This was only the second goal for Thailand ever against their fancied opponents and the first points ever earned. The day’s other match was more on expected lines, with China easily winning 5-0 against Malaysia.
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