Indian junior women's hockey team beats Chile senior side to extend unbeaten run

Santiago: The Indian women’s junior hockey team extended its unbeaten run by notching up a 2-0 victory over the Chile senior side at the Prince of Wales Country Club here. Playing their fifth match of the tour of Chile, goals from Sangita Kumari (48th minute) and Sushma Kumari (56th minute) in the last quarter gave India the win. It was a very open contest between the two teams during the first three quarters, with neither team managing to break the deadlock. There were chances for both the teams through open play and set pieces, but the defenses stood tall to deny their opponents. India looked like they were under pressure during a phase of play in the second quarter when they conceded back-to-back penalty corners, but some good defending inside the striking circle made sure the hosts didn’t take the lead. A similar story unfolded in the third quarter, but it was India who were on the attack, seeing a penalty corner execution being defended well by Chile’s senior team in the 32nd minute. The hosts themselves had a penalty corner three minutes later, but again it was the defense that was successful. India opened the scoring through a beautiful team move. The young forward took her chance confidently and maintained her goal-scoring form. Minutes later, Chile had a glorious chance to equalise through a penalty corner, but India’s rushers performed their task decently enough. In the 56th minute, it was the visiting team’s turn to get a penalty corner, which proved to be the decisive moment in the match. A well-executed drag-flick and a successful strike off a rebound by Sushma Kumari hit the back of the net and extended India’s lead to two goals, which they were able to maintain for the remaining few minutes to snatch their fourth win in five matches in Chile.