NEW DELHI, July 15: The Indian junior women’s hockey team logged three wins, and four losses in a bitter-sweet exposure-cum-competition tour of the UK as it geared up for the Under-21 Asia Cup in China later this year.
The Asian event is scheduled from September 4 to 13 in Moqi, China. During the exposure tour, India played seven matches, including against Scotland senior women, USA U-21, England U-21 and Belgium U-21.The tour began in Edinburgh with two closely fought encounters against the Scotland team. While India narrowly went down 2-3 in the opening match, they lost the second match 3-1. Shashi Khasa scored India’s lone goal, while Bronwyn Shields, Zara Kennedy and Charlotte Watson were on target for Scotland.
The team bounced back in its third match, registering a commanding 6-0 victory over the USA U-21. Sukhveer Kaur starred with a brace, while Kajal, Shashi Khasa, Purnima Yadav and Puja Sahoo also contributed to the scoresheet in India’s most dominant performance of the tour.
India carried that momentum into the next match against England U-21, securing a clinical 2-0 win courtesy of goals from Binima Dhan and Roshni Aind.
The fifth match saw India battle the USA U-21 to a 1-1 draw after Puja Sahoo converted a penalty corner for India before Reese Anetsberger equalised for the USA through a penalty stroke. The Americans edged the shootout 3-2.
India bounced back strongly with another impressive 2-0 victory over England U-21, as Krishna Sharma and Purnima Yadav scored field goals to complete a second win over the hosts during the tour.
In their final outing, India fought hard before narrowly losing 1-2 to Belgium U-21.
Speaking at the conclusion of the tour, Captain Shileima Chanu Khaidem said: “This tour has been a fantastic learning experience for all of us.
Playing against strong international teams with different styles of hockey challenged us to adapt quickly and improve with every match. (PTI)
