Team India’s entry in the final of Junior Asia Cup, will compete with this team for the title.
india vs japan
Defending champions India continued their dominance with a 3-1 win over Japan to reach the final of the Women’s Junior Asia Cup hockey tournament in Oman’s capital Muscat on Saturday. Mumtaz Khan (fourth), Sakshi Rana (fifth), Deepika (13th) scored in the first quarter while Nico Maruyama scored a consolation goal for Japan in the 23rd minute. It was a one-sided opening quarter for the Jyoti Singh-led Indian team as Sunalita Toppo thwarted Japan’s drag-flick chance by sprinting to intercept a dangerous ball in the second minute of the game. India took the lead after two minutes by taking advantage of the mistake. A minute later, Sakshi Rana scored another field goal to put the defending champions 2-0 ahead.
India learned a lesson from the defeat against China in the group match. With two minutes remaining in the first quarter, India got a penalty stroke which Deepika converted into a goal to make the score 3-0. In the second quarter, Japan tried to penetrate the opponent’s circle on a few occasions, but were thwarted by strong defense. Japan’s players finally scored the first goal in the 23rd minute, which reduced the gap and the score remained the same till the end. In the title match, India will face China, which defeated previous stage runner-up South Korea 4-1 in the second semi-final.
Junior team has a chance to create history
The junior women’s team will now have a great opportunity to repeat the great feat of the senior women’s team. Recently, the senior women’s team won the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy title by defeating China in the final. In this tournament played last month in Rajgir, Bihar, the Indian women’s hockey team won the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy title for the third time by defeating China 1-0 in the final.
(Inputs- PTI)
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