Navneet Kaur scored the lone goal of the match in the 57th minute to earn three points for India in the Pool A match.
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Indian women’s hockey team beat Ireland 1-0 in their fourth Pool A match at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Navneet Kaur scored the lone goal of the match in the last minutes of the fourth quarter. India produced lots of successful circle penetrations and won 14 penalty corners. They were not clinical in front of the goal. However, they managed to get the most important goal. The Indians made their way into the challenge for a last-8 spot going into their final Pool match.
The Indian women’s team started the game on a brighter note and pushed Ireland onto the back foot. India made multiple circle entries in the initial minutes and earned their first penalty corner in the 9th minute. But Gurjit Kaur’s decent drag-flick took a deflection and went out. Sjoerd Marijne’s side won back-to-back penalty corners in the 11th minute. Ireland defended them pretty well to deny India the breakthrough. Although India was the better attacking side in the first half, Ireland’s defensive setup was solid enough to keep them in check. With this win, India are alive in the race for the quarterfinal in Tokyo Olympics 2020.
India could have taken the lead early in the second quarter but Irish goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran was quick to come out of goal. She ensured Laleremsiami was denied a goal in a one-on-one situation. By the end of the first half, India won 10 penalty corners but failed to convert even one. But they were playing really well as they made 13 circle penetrations within the first 30 minutes of the game.
India started the second half from where they had left off in the first as they came ever so close to breaking the deadlock in the 34th minute. But once again we weren’t clinical upfront. Lalremsiami did all the hard work as she beat two Irish defenders to give the ball to Navneet Kaur in front of goal, but once again McFerran was quick to react and forced Navneet to push the ball wide. Meanwhile at the other Ireland counter-attacked after India lost the ball in the midfield. However, Indian goalkeeper Savita Punia stood firm to deny the Irish side their opening goal.
Five minutes into the fourth quarter Savita produced the save of the match to deny Anna O’Flanagan a goal for Ireland. Anna sprinted towards goal, evaded a tackle and entered the shooting circle, and released the shot but couldn’t beat Savita.
Both teams are looking tired in the final quarter because of the hot climatic conditions in Tokyo. However Indian women were looking like the hungrier of the two sides and eventually broke the deadlock in the 57th minute. Captain Rani Rampal’s pass found Navneet in front of the goal and the 25-year-old diverted the ball towards the goal to make the score 1-0 for India.
India stood firm in the final three minutes to deny Ireland the equalizer and earned crucial three points and keep themselves alive in the race for a place in the quarter-finals. India will next play South Africa on 31st July.
