India, SA play out draw in opener

New Delhi: India and hosts South Africa played out a goalless draw in their opening match of the Women’s Hockey World League SemiFinal in Johannesburg on Saturday night. Goalkeeper Savita pulled off some brilliant saves to help India maintain a clean slate. India made a strong start with a structured game in the first quarter. The visitors attacked early on, that fetched them a penalty corner in the 12th minute. However, a fiercely struck flick by Gurjit Kaur was well defended by South Africa’s first runner to deny India an early lead. South Africa tried to bounce back into the game and made two strong attempts on the goal, only to be denied by Savita. The final two quarters were a similar story with both teams ending up splitting points. India take on USA on Monday.