The Indian women's hockey team made it to the quarter-finals of the Hockey Women's World Cup 2018 after they registered an emphatic 3-0 win against Italy in their cross-over match at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London on Tuesday.
The Indian team produced a good all-round display and were helped by goals from Lalremsiami (9’), Neha Goyal (45’) and Vandana Katariya (55’).
The match started with Italy seeing possession for the first couple of minutes, but India slowly got into their rhythm and kept the ball for the next few minutes. The Asian Champions created a glorious opportunity in the 9th minute as Navjot Kaur won the first penalty corner of the match.
The resulting flick was taken by Gurjit Kaur and her fierce strike was deflected away by the first rusher. India took their long corner quickly, managing to exploit the space in the Italian striking circle, and young striker Lalremsiami benefitted from it as she produced a calm finish from the left side of the goal to give India the lead after 9 minutes.
India looked to extend their lead in the third quarter and had a great chance in the 34th minute when Navneet Kaur found herself in possession with her back towards the goal. The young forward turned and deceived the Italian goalkeeper but just missed the target as she placed the ball wide of the goal-post.
India won their second penalty corner in the 35th minute as Rani’s pass hit an Italian foot, but the experienced Deepika flicked the ball wide of the Italian goal. India dominated possession for the next few minutes, and won themselves their third penalty corner in the 42nd minute through clever play from Monika, but Rani’s flick was stopped by the first rusher.
India continued to dominate the match, and won themselves a fourth penalty corner at the stroke of the hooter. The resulting flick was struck by Reena Khokhar, the shot deflecting off an Italian defender and clumsily getting trapped under the Goalkeeper. The Indian attackers looked to put the ball into the back of net and it was Neha Goyal who got the final touch to extend India’s advantage.
India won back-to-back PCs in the 54th and 55th minutes which saw them score their third goal at the second instance as Gurjit Kaur’s fierce low flick towards the right side of goalkeeper was cleverly deflected the other way by Vandana Katariya to make the scores 3-0 in India’s favour.
India managed the final few minutes well and paved their way through the quarter-final with a 3-0 win over Italy.
Lalremsiami was awarded the Player of the Match.
The Indian Women’s Hockey team will now play Ireland in their quarter-final match on Thursday (2nd August).
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