Asian Champions Trophy, Hockey: India’s impressive win against China, a story of two fine field goals | Hockey News

Sangita Kumari knew before any of the Chinese defenders could react. She saw Sushila Chanu was about to receive the ball in midfield, and knew that the former captain was going to drill a pass towards her. She knew if she made a tiny bit of space for herself, she would have the advantage of catching the defence on the backfoot. And, just like that, in one supremely well-coordinated move in the 32nd minute, Sangita put India in the lead to break the deadlock.
Salima Tete made it 2-0 in the 37th minute, capping off another fine move. Deepika rounded things off in the final seconds, scoring from a penalty corner after China had taken their goalkeeper off.
China are the reigning Olympic Games silver medalls after their fairy tale run in Paris earlier this year, but have come to Bihar with a much-changed squad. That said, they are still the closest to India in terms of quality so it will be a shot in the arm for what head coach Harendra Singh is trying to build with his team.
Well-worked finishes
The story of India’s win was how well-constructed the first two goals were. Salima’s side had started the match well and could have scored with any number of chances they created in the early exchanges.
With four minutes to go in the half, we saw a teaser for the first goal that would come later. From the right touchline, Sushila drilled a pass low and hard towards Sangita, but the deflection didn’t quite work out even it resulted in a penalty corner. But Sushila repeated it right after half time, this time Sangita’s first-touch deflection was so well-placed that the Chinese goalkeeper had no time to react.
“If you see that Sangita goal again, you’ll see the kind of pass she received. Sushila Chanu is Sushila Chanu for a reason, she has perfected flat-slap pass over the years,” coach Harendra said after the match. “It was a slap, but she also sliced it somewhat. And for someone coming at it from the right side, all it needs is a touch towards the goal. It was a world-class pass.”
The celebrations that followed the goal were indicative of how the efforts on the training ground translated into that moment. Sangita and Sushila shared a bear hug the dugout shortly after.
“All my teammates know that I have that flat-slapped pass aimed towards the left foot of the strikers,” Sushila said. “I have a good connection with my teammates. I did that during the World Cup (against NZ when Lalremsiami scored), and at the Commonwealth Games too where Vandana made the same deflection. I tell our strikers before the match, reminding them to be ready for that pass from me. We were so happy that it worked out, and Sangita thanked me for that pass.”
Captain’s day out
Five minutes later, Beauty Dungdung drove towards China’s goal from the left channel and while Chinese defenders backtracked, she instead played a cute pass to her left that found Preeti Dubey in space down the line.
The forward took one look at what was in front of her, then opened up her body to play a pass into the danger area. Salima made a late run from midfield into the circle and didn’t have to break stride, directing the pass past Wu, who was again left with little time to react.
Moments before that second goal, Salima had come close to scoring but her shot from the right channel was inches wide, causing Harendra to smile wryly and mouth “Oh god!” But Salima wouldn’t be denied her place on the scoresheet.
The captain has been brilliant right through the tournament so far, marauding up and down the field in a central role, but a goal had eluded her till tonight. And she punched the air in celebration after finally finding the back of the net. It wasn’t just the goal, but a couple of crucial interventions in deep defence when China were in great position, that earned Salima the player of the match award. She was crucial to India’s pressing as well.
“Every second ball we tried to put pressure and win possession back within 5 seconds, and we were successful too most times,” Harendra said. “The most important thing today was, we didn’t concede penalty corners when under pressure.”
India play Japan on Sunday in the final group-stage fixture before the semifinals on Tuesday.