Women’s hockey team beats South Korea, takes unassailable lead

SEOUL: The Indian women’s hockey team produced an allround performance to notch a 3-1 win over higher-ranked Korea in the fourth match of a five-match series here on Friday. The victory for world No 10 India saw them take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series with a match remaining to be played on Sunday.

Two goals in the first quarter by Gurjit Kaur (2’) and Deepika (14’) put India in a commanding position while Poonam Rani’s field goal in the 47th minute secured the victory for the visitors as Mi Hyun Park (57’) scored a consolation goal for South Korea.

The early stages of the match saw India put pressure on the South Korean defence to win themselves a penalty corner in only the 2nd minute, which was well-converted by Gurjit Kaur as she put the ball past goalkeeper Heabin Jung to give the visitors the lead.

After going behind early, South Korea had the chance to equalise in the 4th minute but the penalty corner was shot wide while another PC in the 10th minute was saved by Indian goalkeeper Swati.

On the other end of the pitch, India won themselves a PC in the 14th minute which was slotted home calmly by Deepika and put India in a commanding position at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter saw chances come begging for both the teams but neither could trouble the opposing goalkeeper as the teams fought for possession in the midfield.

The two teams tried to get behind each other’s defence but neither could beat the defensive line or earn themselves a scoring opportunity as the defences for both the teams stood tall, meaning that India took a two-goal advantage into half-time.