New Delhi [India], June 10 (ANI): The Indian Junior Women’s Hockey Team edged out hosts Japan 1-0 in a neck-and-neck semi-Final conflict of the Women’s Junior Asia Cup 2023 in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, Japan on Saturday. Sunelita Toppo (47′) scored the one objective of the sport.
The victory signifies that the Indian workforce will compete within the prestigious match’s Final for the second time, having beforehand reached the summit conflict in 2012.
According to Hockey India, India certified for the FIH Junior Hockey Women’s World Cup 2023 by reaching the match’s Final, which might be held in Santiago, Chile from November 29 to December 10, 2023, as the highest three groups from the Women’s Junior Asia Cup 2023 had been set to qualify for the Junior World Cup.
India went on the offensive immediately and performed a urgent recreation to place Japan below strain. However, the hosts not solely stood agency to stop India from taking an early lead, however additionally they started creating scoring alternatives to place strain again on India.
Japan additionally received a few penalty corners however didn’t convert them, leading to a goalless first quarter.
The second quarter was as intense as the primary with each groups attacking relentlessly to interrupt the impasse. Japan got here near scoring a few instances however India’s goalkeeper Madhuri Kindo made some wonderful saves to disclaim the hosts from discovering the again of the online.
Notably, neither India nor Japan was in a position to rating within the second quarter as each side went into the half-time break with the rating levelled at 0-0.
The third quarter witnessed Japan conserving the possession and making extra assaults to maintain India on the again foot. However, the Indian workforce acquired the right alternative to take the lead once they had been awarded a penalty stroke, however they didn’t capitalise on it.
Despite making a number of probabilities, each groups had been nonetheless unsuccessful find the again of the online because the third quarter additionally ended goal-less.
The fourth quarter began with India dominating the sport and it paid off when Sunelita Toppo (47′) scored an excellent subject objective to provide the Indian workforce a much-needed 1-0 lead. With the scoreline of their favour, India shifted their deal with conserving possession whereas taking part in extra aggressively to disclaim Japan from netting the equaliser and the technique paid dividends because the match ended 1-0 in favour of India. The Indian Junior Women’s Hockey Team will now play towards China or Korea within the closing of the Women’s Junior Asia Cup 2023 on eleventh June at 14:30 hrs IST. (ANI)