- By Himanshu Badola
- Tue, 03 Oct 2023 10:59 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Indian women's hockey team finished its group stage campaign on a high as they got the better of Hong Kong China, beating them 13-0 in their final Pool A match of the Asian Games 2023 women’s hockey tournament at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium in Hangzhou on Tuesday.
With the thumping victory, India have qualified for the semifinals, finishing the group stage at the top of Pool A with 10 points from four matches. The top two teams from each pool will qualify for the semi-finals.
India will face the runner-ups of the Pool B in the semi-finals on Thursday.
Before Tuesday’s match, India drew with the Republic of Korea 1-1 on Sunday after beating Singapore 13-0 and Malaysia 6-0 last week.
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Talking about the match, Vandana Katariya opened the scoring to hand India the early lead. Before the opponents could have responded India reacted again as Deepika, Monika, and Deep Grace Ekka scored to make it 4-0 before the first quarter ended.
India continued the brilliance as they carried the same momentum in the second quarter as well with Vandana adding to the scoresheet, scoring the fifth via a field goal.
Sangita Kumari made it 6-0 before Hong Kong China backline managed to avoid further damage as it remained 6-0 at the end of the first half.
In the second half, Sangita Kumari and Navneet Kaur added to the team’s tally in the final two quarters.
Deep Grace Ekka, Vandana Katariya, and Deepika also found the net towards the end to complete their respective hat-tricks as India kept the unbeaten run going a the showpiece event.
Kabaddi team thrashes Bangladesh
Talking about the Kabaddi match, the men's team kicked off their campaign with a clinical 55-18 win over Bangladesh as they jumped to the top of the Group A points table.
The star raider Naveen Kumar scored an early super raid with Arjun Deshwal also getting the quick points to help India force an all-out on Bangladesh within five minutes to lead 11-1.
Bangladesh lacked a lot in the attacking department as India extended their lead by 15 points at 24-9 at halftime.
In the second half, Sachin Tanwar and Akash Shinde inflicted three all-outs to increase the gap. Sachin continued to shine and produced a series of successful raids, including a super raid to take the scoreline to 33-10.
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Bangladesh continued to give easy points as they couldn't stand in front of the well-balanced Indian side that looked consistent throughout the match.
Next, the Indian kabaddi team will play Thailand in their second match on Wednesday and take on Chinese Taipei in their final group match on Thursday. The top two teams from the group will qualify for the semi-finals on Friday.
The final will also be played on Friday.