Spain Tour: India women hold host to 1-1 draw
Gurjit Kaur’s 43rd minute strike was nullified by home team’s Maria Tost in the 49th minute in a pulsating second international hockey match.
Published : Jan 28, 2019 09:26 IST
Indian women earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Spain in the second international hockey match after having lost the opening encounter by a close margin.
Gurjit Kaur’s 43rd minute strike was nullified by home team’s Maria Tost in the 49th minute in a pulsating match.
Having lost 2-3 to Spain in its opening match on Saturday, the Indian team put up a spirited performance in a high-voltage second encounter.
While the first quarter ended in a stalemate, the second quarter saw India make a breakthrough with its first PC of the match. The PC was re-taken but was well-saved by the Spanish goalkeeper.
It was goalless at half-time but Spain created a penalty corner opportunity soon into the third quarter. The Indian goalkeeper made an impressive save to deny the host. In the following minutes, India increased its tempo that resulted in yet another short corner, which was brilliantly struck by dragflicker Gurjit Kaur.
The joy of 1-0 lead against the 2018 Women’s World Cup Bronze medal winners was shortlived as a defensive lapse by India gave way to Spain scoring a beautiful field goal through Tost in the 49th minute which levelled the scores 1-1.
The final quarter remained intense until the hooter with both teams taking their game a notch above and pushing for a winning goal but neither succeeded with the match ending in a draw.
India will play its third match of the tour on Tuesday.