Hockey: India eves too good for Poland

Indian women’s hockey team notched up their second consecutive win in the FIH World League Round 2 with a 2-0 victory over Poland at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Sunday.

Vandana Katariya (13th minute) and Poonam Rani (26th) scored a goal each for India in their second league match. The home side had mauled Ghana 13-0 in their opening match on Saturday.

India took the lead in the first quarter itself with Vandana Katariya smacking the ball hard with a deflection and scored the first goal in the 13th minute.

Maintaining the same momentum in the second quarter, India created scoring opportunities by surrounding the ‘D’ of their opponents. Poland also displayed good coordination trying to close the gaps by holding on to the possession of the ball. India took an advantage in the counter attack and it was Poonam Rani who stroked in a field goal in the 26th minute to doubled the lead to 2-0.

After change of ends, Poland tried to put continuous pressure on the Indians but were unable to break down the resolute defence of the Indian team. Indian girls dominated the match but failed to convert scoring opportunities on a couple of occasions.

Speaking after the match, India captain Ritu Rani said, “We are happy to have won the game and if we win the next as well, we will be at the top of the pool which will be a good motivation. Our defence played well as we restricted Poland from scoring any goals.

“However, we missed on the attaching side and scored only two goals. Our focus will be to get more penalty corner opportunities and will work on the mistakes committed today to make our attack even stronger in the next match,” she said.

In other matches played on Sunday, Kazakhstan thrash Singapore 4-0, while Malaysia and Thailand scored victories over Russia (3-0) and Ghana (3-1) respectively. Monday is rest day and India next play Thailand on Tuesday.