Singapore: In the final of Women’s leg of Asian Champions Trophy 2016, Indian eves kept the unbeaten record of the country in the finals at this version of Asian Champions Trophy as they beat China 2-1 in a sensational encounter. With this win, India have won both male and female leg of the Asian Champions Trophy hosted this year.
A win which showcased the fighting spirit and determination of those in ranks to replicate what the male and junior teams did a few days back; i.e. to win the title. This win is seen as a breather after a forgetful Rio 2016 Summer Games campaign of the team; as this is also the first-time the Indian women’s team have won the Asian Champions Trophy. India previously has the best record of finishing runners up to Japan in the 2013 edition.
The team under Chief coach Neil Hawgood, took cue from their group stage encounter, as they refused to let China take early control of the ball. With work on the ball possession, India got their first penalty corner in the 13th minute and Deep Grace Ekka didn’t do any mistake of mishitting the ball. This was the only disturbance occurred on the scoreboard as the teams went for the first break with scoreline 1-0 in favor of India.
Coming off the break, India kept their nerves as well as the control on the hockey ball as they denied any chances to their opponents in the second quarter as well. The teams went to half time with scoreline intact at 1-0 in favor of India.
Entering the second half, India had slight misjudgement as China scored their first through a field goal by Mengling Zhong. This was the only scoring shot in the third quarter as the teams went into the third break with a tied scoreline of 1-1.
This was the moment of the match as whosoever had their nerves in control was to take away the win and the title, and it was India who got their decisive lead minutes before the final hooter through a Deepika Thakur drag flick which hit the back of the Chinese goal post.
And with this the final hooter went off sending the Indian supports into bursts of cheers. The Indian Hockey body, in recognition of the performance of the team announced an INR 2 Lac cash prize to all the team members and Chief Coach Neil Hawgood. The support staff also got a cash reward of INR 1 Lac and an additional cash reward was announced for the top scorer of the tournament, Deepika Thakur.