Savita helps India escape with a draw vs England
WORLD CUP India goalkeeper makes several saves in thrilling opening match
LONDON: India produced an impressive display before conceding a late goal to play out a 1-1 draw against world No 2 England in their opening Pool B match of the women’s hockey World Cup here on Saturday.
Neha Goyal gave India the lead in the 25th minute before Lily Owsley equalised from a penalty corner in the 54th minute.
World number 10 India punched above their weight and gave England a run for their money in a keenly contested duel. India matched higher ranked England stick for stick in the opening two quarters even though the hosts had more scoring chances with five penalty corners coming their way.
But the Indian defence was up to the mark with goalkeeper Sav- ita Punia stealing the limelight with some brilliant saves. While India looked promising, the home team kept on earning penalty corners.
England earned their first penalty corner inside 32 sec and then another in the eighth minute but on both occasions the Indian defence kept a tight vigil .
England earned two more penalty corners in the second quarter but , Savita showed great reflexes to keep the danger away.
The Indians, on the other hand, caught the English defence off guard on more than one occasion from open play.
India broke the deadlock in the 25th minute through Neha Goyal who found herself at the right place to direct the ball into the net and stun the hosts.
The Indians showed great fighting character to go into the halfway break by a slender one goal advantage.
Trailing by a goal, England attacked in the final quarter in search of the equaliser but the Indians defended their citadel well and maintained their control over the proceedings.
In the 48th minute, England secured another penalty corner but once again the Indian defence stood tall.
Five minutes later, England were awarded a set piece and they utilised the opportunity to draw level. Though Savita blocked the initial attempt, Owsley found the target from the rebound.
In other matches, Germany defeated South Africa 3-1 while Ireland beat USA 2-1.
The Indian men’s hockey team registered its second successive victory against New Zealand, beating the visitors 3-1 to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match Test series here.
Rupinder Pal Singh (18th), SV Sunil (27th) and Mandeep Singh (56th) scored for India while Stephen Jenness pulled (24th) one back for New Zealand.
After a goalless first quarter, India opened scoring in the second quarter. They won three back-to-back PCS in the 18th minute and Rupinder was thirdtime lucky after two of his previous flicks were blocked by New Zealand’s first rusher.
India will play Ireland in their next Pool B match on July 26.
JR MEN’S TEAM HOLD NETHERLANDS 2-2
ANTWERP, BELGIUM: The Indian junior men’s hockey team overcame an early 0-2 setback to hold the Netherlands 2-2 in a hardfought encounter in U-23 Five Nations Tournament.
The Netherlands caught the Indian team’s defence off-guard early in the match with Marlon scoring the first goal in the first minute. The Dutch team’s early 1-0 lead before Jip Jansen scored in the 11th minute to make it 2-0 by the end of the first quarter.
India, however, clawed back in the second quarter. The defence also held strong.
The team’s first breakthrough came in the 27th minute when Mandeep Mor scored a splendid goal to narrow the difference to 1-2.
After a goalless third quarter, the Indian team pushed for goals in the final quarter and their efforts paved way for Mandeep to score another goal in the 48th minute.
Though India stretched the Dutch defence as they vied for a winner, the team could not convert and settled for a draw.