Bangkok: India produced an all-round show to
hold formidable China 1-1 in their penultimate Group A match
and inch towards the semifinals of the Women's Asia Cup hockey
here today.
India now need just a draw against Malaysia in their last
group match tomorrow to make it to the semifinals.
It was the Chinese who started the scoring with Liao Jia
Hui putting her side ahead in the 18th minute from the first
penalty corner they earned.
But Saba Anjum scored the equaliser for India in the 45th
minute, converting a short corner to settle for an honourable
draw.
India are yet to lose a match in the tournament and have
routed Singapore and Thailand 13-0 and 15-0 respectively in
their first two group matches.
With identical two wins and a draw, both India and China
have seven points each though Malaysia still have a chance of
entering the semifinals.
On an overcast day, the Indian eves made their intentions
clear from the beginning and displayed aggressive style of
hockey that forced the Chinese on the back foot.
But some wayward shooting by the forwards led India down.
The attacking duo of Jasjeet Kaur and Rani Ramphal were
off-colour today with the former missing two open chances.
With veteran Asunta Lakra shining in the midfield, the
Chinese were forced to operate through the flanks, only to
find Mamta Kharab and Deepika Thakur, playing down the field,
standing tall in front of them.
After managing to thwart India's onslaught in the opening
10 minutes, China made full use of the first penalty corner
they earned.
The Chinese scored from a penalty corner variation in the
18th minute with captain Ma Yibo and Sun Zeng combining well
to set it up for Hui, who coolly swept the ball to the right
of Indian goalkeeper Deepika Murthy to go into the breather
with a 1-0 lead.
The change of ends seemed to have worked wonders for the
Indians as 10 minutes into the second half Anjum drew parity
through a penalty corner variation.
The result could have been different for India had it not
been for custodian Savita, who came to her side's rescue in
the second half by blocking sure goals.
India has never defeated China in the annals of Asia Cup,
even though it came very close of breaking the jinx today and
the disappointment was quite evident on chief coach MK
Kaushik's face.
"We could have won as we have definitely played better
than China. But some of my players need to be more confident
of themselves," Kaushik said after the match.
Captain Surinder Kaur lauded her defenders for their
excellent display against the nimble-footed Chinese forwards
but said the strikers need to pull up their socks in the
remaining matches of the tournament.
"Our defence was very good today, it was not the same
with our forwards. We could have scored more goals, we had
enough chances," Kaur said.
Meanwhile, China's Korean coach Kim Sam Ryul said his
side was lucky to have escaped defeat.
"We were lucky. India played exceedingly well. Though I
am satisfied with the result, considering we are World No 3,
we could have fared better. My forwards were not fast enough,"
he said.
Bureau Report