NEW DELHI, Nov 20: Lifting up their game, the Indian women managed to overcome the disappointment of a pedestrian semi-final performance and registered a 1-0 win over China in the final to successfully defend the Asian Champions Trophy at the Rajgir Sports Complex in Bihar on Wednesday.
The score line may indicate it was a close contest and for the first-half, it was so before the Indians, like in every game, shifted gears in the third quarter and took control. And while China deserved credit for not making it any easier for India, the host was not troubled much once it went ahead. Deservedly, it was Deepika who scored the lone goal in the final and topped the table with 11 goals to be named the player-of-the-tournament.
Unlike in the previous matches, it was a cautious start by India, aware that the Chinese would come hard, come fast and create chances early on. They did and for the first few minutes, India had to fight hard to survive the Chinese onslaught before slowly settling down, getting better at ball control.
A penalty corner for China in the 18th minute saw Lalremsiami — adjudged the player-of-the-match — rush out quickly before Bichhu Devi went full stretch to clear the rebound with her stick.
India’s constant push resulted in four quick penalty corners in the 20th minute but the team’s poor form with penalty corners continued, a mix of off-target shots, ineffective variations and some good saves by the Chinese goalkeeper. China managed a second penalty corner three minutes later but to no avail. But the Indians were slowly growing in the game and within seconds of resumption, in the third quarter, India earned its fifth penalty corner.
The injection was not stopped cleanly but the ball was kept in play, dragged in and then Deepika unleashed a controlled reverse hit that the Chinese defence and goalkeeper had no answer to. The Indian attack was impressive even when it did not result in a goal. Sangita Kumari was a delight with her nippy runs and amazing ball control, repeatedly entering the Chinese circle.
The results: Final: India 1 (Deepika 31) bt China 0.
Third-fourth place play-off: Japan 4 (Mayuri Horikawa 3, Hiroka Murayama 24, Ayana Tamura 28, Miyu Hasegawa 35) bt Malaysia 1 (Azmyra Azhairy 48).
Special awards: Player-of-the-tournament: Deepika (India); Goalkeeper-of-the-tournament: Yu Kudo (Japan).
(Manas Dasgupta)