Shillong, November 30: The Indian junior women’s hockey team made a resounding start to their FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup 2023 campaign by securing a commanding 12-0 victory against Canada in their opening match of the tournament held on Wednesday.
Annu (4’, 6′, 39’), Dipi Monika Toppo (21’), Mumtaz Khan (26’, 41’, 54’, 60’), Deepika Soreng (34’, 50’, 54’), and Neelam (45’) were the goalscorers for India.
India began the match with an attacking approach, consistently pressuring Canada and swiftly securing an early advantage as Annu (4’, 6′) scored two early goals through penalty corners. Despite taking a two-goal lead, India persisted in their aggressive style, maintaining pressure on Canada, however, they were unable to find more goals in the opening quarter as it ended 2-0 in their favour.
The momentum from the first quarter carried into the second for India, which sustained their dominance. They maintained possession, consistently penetrating the circle, resulting in Dipi Monika Toppo (21′) and Mumtaz Khan (26′) netting a field goal each, further extending India’s lead.
In the meantime, Canada won a penalty corner but they were unable to make the most of it. As the second quarter concluded, the Indian team maintained a commanding 4-0 lead.
Despite having a healthy lead, the Indian team showed no signs of slowing down in the third quarter and continued to dominate the proceedings with Deepika Soreng (34′) converting a penalty corner, following which Annu (39′) completed her hat-trick, while Mumtaz Khan (41′) scored her second goal of the match.
Also, Neelam (45′) smashed home her shot from a penalty corner to make it 8-0 for India by the end of the penultimate quarter.
The Indian team’s hunger for goals persisted into the fourth quarter, resulting in strikes by Deepika Soreng (50′, 54′) and Mumtaz Khan (54′, 60’) which not only saw both players complete their hat-tricks but also India winning the game 12-0.
India will next lock horns with Germany in their second match of the tournament on Friday. (IANS)