Birmingham: The Indian women’s hockey team found England a tough nut to crack once again as they went down 1-3 to their old nemesis in a Pool A round-robin match at the 2022 Commonwealth Games here Tuesday. The Indian team, that had lost to England in the Tokyo Olympics bronze medal match also, conceded early goals and were down 0-3 before getting a lone consolation goal in fourth quarter.
Giselle Ansley (3rd), Tess Howard (40th), Hannah Martin (53th) found the back of the net for England, while, Vandana Katariya (60th) was the only scorer for India.
The defeat put India n third place in the group behind England (nine points) and Canada (six points). India have the same tally of points like Canada, but the latter are in second place due to better goal difference.
The English side started the game aggressively and earned back-to-back penalty corners in the second minute of the first quarter. Ansley converted the second one and helped England take the lead.
India had a chance when Salima Tete made a fantastic run down the right flank, but couldn’t find the back of the net. In the 12th minute, Salima produced a fantastic through ball for and Vandana. The latter tried to tap it into the goal, but the English goalkeeper Madeleine Hinch pulled off a great save. India obtained a penalty corner in the final minute of the first quarter, however, Gurjit Kaur couldn’t find the mark.
Monika took a shot in the opening minutes of the second quarter, but unfortunately the ball went over the crossbar. The Indian team made another circle penetration in the 20th minute, but the English defence unit stood tall and kept their opponents at bay.
The Indians continued to put pressure and earned a penalty corner in the 22nd minute. Deep Grace Ekka took a firm shot, but Hinch made another fabulous save. Three minutes later, Navneet Kaur helped India earn another penalty corner, but Gurjit couldn’t breach the English defence.
Elena Rayer made a remarkable run through the centre in the opening minutes of the third quarter, but Udita pulled off a fantastic tackle and ensured that the English team didn’t extend their lead. England rode on the momentum and made another circle penetration in the 38th minute, but the Indian defence fought hard and kept the ball away from their goal.
However, Sophie Hamilton produced a terrific ball and Howard deflected it into the goal to extend England’s lead. Salima took a shot in the 48th minute, but goalkeeper Hinch successfully parried the ball away from goal.
In the 53rd minute, Martin converted a penalty corner to ensure victory for England. In the last minute of the match, India earned a penalty corner and Vandana tapped the ball into the goal to ensure that England did not walk off the field with a clean sheet.