Indian Women's Hockey Team Wins FIH Series Finals

An impressive Indian women's hockey team won the Hiroshima FIH Women's Series Finals in 2019 on Sunday after defeating host Japan 3-1 in the Hiroshima Hockey Stadium Final. The Indian team was helped by an early goal from captain Rani in the third minute but conceded a draw in the 11th minute when Kanon Mori scored from Japan. A corset of Gurjit Kaur scored in the 45th and 60th minutes, however, he saw India record an emphatic victory. The No. 9 Indian team in the world had already qualified for the FIH 2019 Olympic Qualifiers on Saturday after securing a place in the final of the competition.

A fantastic start to the first quarter for India saws them take the lead in just the third minute when Rani came forward to score from the first penalty corner (PC) of his team. The Indian captain gently hit the ball on the ground and defeated Japanese goalkeeper Akio Tanaka on his right side to give India a 1-0 lead.

The dominance of India saw them win their second PC in the 9th minute, but the team was given a foul in the execution. Japan could not create opportunities for themselves since they could only manage two circle tickets in the first 15 minutes.

The second quarter also saw India maintain possession, but striker Vandana Katariya loses a glorious opportunity in the 18th minute. Picking up a clearance from outside the attack circle, he ran towards him to attack, but his shot went over the pole through the goal.

Japan, on the other hand, also began to improve its pace and tried to create opportunities using the flanks, but India's defensive cohesion ensured that they did not succeed.

India controlled possession well since they made five innings in the circle compared to Japan's zero. Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam and Lilima Minz teamed up to help break the Japanese attacks and turned the ball comfortably to create opportunities for India.

However, a better performance of the Japanese defense in the last minutes of the second quarter meant that both teams went to halftime in 1-

India intensified its attacks again in the first minutes of the third quarter winning two PCs but could not convert them into goals. Both teams tried to take the important advantage, Japan made two innings in the circle and got two shots, while India made eight innings and five shots.

However, the last of those five shots was the one that gave India the lead, as the constant pressure on the Japanese in the last stages of the third quarter caused India to win another PC through Rani.

It was Gurjit who was the savior of India once again when he sent the ball to the upper left corner of the Japanese goal to give him a 2-1 advantage in the 45th minute.

India managed well in the fourth quarter as they maintained possession in the opening minutes with Navneet Kaur and Rani having the chance to seal the victory with a third goal, but the Japanese goalkeeper kept up his efforts.

But on the other side of the field, India defended itself well from a PC to avoid conceding an equalizer.

With only five minutes remaining in the match, Japan decided to take their goalkeeper out as an additional field player, and that helped them create some opportunities. However, it also worked against them in the last minute of the match, as Gurjit, the tournament's top scorer, scored his second goal of the game through a PC to make the 3-1 and close the victory for India.

By: Preeti Narula

Content: https://sports.ndtv.com/hockey/fih-series-finals-indian-womens-hockey-team-clinches-fih-series-finals-beats-japan-3-1-2057962