Indian women hockey team defeats England by 2-1; books place in semifinals of #GoldCoastCommonwealthGames
Gold Coast, April 8: The Indian women's hockey team on Saturday produced an emphatic 2-1 victory over World No. 2 England and raced to semi-finals of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. Navneet Kaur and Gurjit Kaur got their names on the score-sheet to help their team secure the victory while England’s Alexandra Danson scored a single goal for her country.
As soon as the high-voltage match started, England skipper Alexandra Danson showed up an impressive skill and produced the first goal for her country in the very first minute. England took lead in the 1st minute of the match which later proved to be the last.
A strong third and fourth quarter performance from India saw Navneet Kaur (42') and Gurjit Kaur (48') getting their names on the score-sheet to help their team secure the victory which puts them in a strong position to qualify for the next round with a tally of six points and a pool match to play against South Africa on 10 April 2018.
It was a tough start for India as Namita Toppo and Lalremsiami both attempted shots at the English goal but failed to convert it into a score as England's goalkeeper Madeleine Hinch resisted. India was also unable to utilize a Penalty Corner which they were awarded in the 8th minute as the team failed to attempt a shot on goal.
The Indian team was under constant pressure throughout the second quarter as England won three successive Penalty Corners. However, all the attempts from England’s team were saved well by Savita to keep India in the match.
Success for team India came in the 42nd minute when Vandana Katariya's pass to Navneet Kaur was slotted home by the latter to score the equalizer for India. It was an important goal in the match for India as they were dominating the game. Later, a 22-year-old Gurjit Kaur kept herself calm to strike past Hinch's left side to score the second goal of the match.
In the last 10 minutes of the match, England attempted four shots on goal but goalkeeper Savita successfully blocked. After the match, Chief Coach Harendra Singh said, "It was a tough match today against a very strong side, but the girls produced a strong performance. This victory is special as we won against players who have won the Gold medal at the Olympics. I am sure it will give our team more confidence going into the next match as we have won two consecutive matches now after having faced a setback against Wales in the opening match."