Bhubaneswar, March 13: India beat Germany 3-0 in a thrilling shootout in their FIH Pro League women’s hockey match here at the Kalinga Stadium on Sunday.
The regulation time ended at 1-1 with Nisha (40’) scoring the equaliser for India after Felicia Weidermann (27’) had put the visitors ahead.
India women showacased a convincing performance in the shoot-out to take the bonus point in the hard-fought match against Germany.
Germany took the early lead as Felicia Wiedermann began with a running injection and ended with the ball flying past Devi Kharibam in the India goal in the 27th minute.
This was just ahead of half-time and both teams trooped off the pitch after an exhausting opening two quarters.
India finally broke through in the third quarter when Nisha was on hand to bundle the ball over the German goal-line after some indecision by the German defence.
Both teams had further opportunities to wrap the result up.
India pushed and pushed for the winning goal but found a resilient German defence that maintained discipline despite an onslaught by the Indian attack.
Germany were awarded a penalty corner in the dying seconds of the game but were unable to find a way past Savita and scores remained tied 1-1 at the end of the regulation time.
The shoot out was a reverse image of the day before. This time it was India who looked the more confident and they quickly took an unassailable 3-0 lead through the excellence of Savita and the calmness of the scorers: Tete Salima, Kumari Sangita and Sonika.
The result means India move to second position in the league table behind Argentina and ahead of Netherlands.
Germany remain in sixth position just one point behind Spain. (UNI)
