Tokyo: The Indian women’s hockey team won the Olympic Test Event with Navjot Kaur and Lalremsiami leading the side to a 2-1 win over Japan in the final, here Wednesday.
Navjot Kaur (11th minute) opened the scoring to put India ahead but the lead was neutralised within a minute as Minami Shimizu (12’) scored for the hosts. Lalremsiami (33rd) then struck the winning goal for India.
India dominated the first 10 minutes, and finally managed to find the breakthrough when Forward Navjot kept her nerves under pressure and produced a fine finish in front of the goal.
However, the next minute saw Japan strike back immediately with a well-crafted field goal by Shimizu to make it 1-1.
The second quarter saw both the teams focus on their defensive structure and tread carefully in the attacking third.
India had a few chances in the first few minutes, with the likes of Vandana Katariya and Navjot combining well on the attacking front, but could not produce a goal-scoring opportunity.
It was an aggressive start from the Indian team after half time as they won themselves a penalty corner in the 33rd minute. India’s prolific drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur stepped up to take the execution, but her shot was saved by the Japanese Goalkeeper Megumi Kageyama.
However, the rebound fell to Lalremsiami, who did not make a mistake in putting the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-1 for India.
It was a huge blow to the hosts who were finding it difficult to cope up with India’s rhythm, but after some tough battles in the midfield, the Japanese team earned themselves back-to-back penalty corners in the 42nd minute.
However, India’s defense was up to the task, and made sure that they protected their lead. India also had a penalty corner in the 45th minute, but could not extend their lead.
Both sides had a couple of half chances in the last quarter, but failed to utilise those.
PTI