India best Korea, clinch series

Jincheon (south Korea), May 22 

The Indian women’s hockey team came from a goal down to eke out a close 2-1 win over South Korea in the second game and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series here today. 

The Indians had earlier defeated South Korea by an identical margin in the opening game of the series and will be up against them in the inconsequential last match of the series on Friday. 

Skipper Rani Rampal (37th) and Navjot Kaur (50th) scored for India after Lee Seungju gave South Korea the lead in the 19th minute.

The match started on a fast-paced note with both India and South Korea trading penalty corners in the first quarter but goalkeepers of both the teams made some fine saves to keep a clean slate. Four minutes into the second quarter, South Korea rattled India when they took the lead through Seungju’s field goal. However, the Indians made a strong comeback after the change of ends and pulled a goal back seven minutes into the third quarter through captain Rani’s brilliant field effort. India kept up the pressure on the South Korean defence and surged ahead in the 50th minute through Navjot’s strike. 

“Our performance was much better than in the first match,” India’s chief coach Sjoerd Marijne said. “Our skill control in today’s game was much better and the quality was good and consistent. I believe we could have scored more goals but the intensity and effort was good from the team,” the Dutchman added. 

Marijne said good results here would boost the team’s confidence ahead of the important FIH Women’s Series Finals in Hiroshima later this year. “I am happy with the adjustments the team made. We played our first match just 24 hours after arriving in Jincheon. This will surely boost the team’s spirit ahead of the Series Finals,” he said. — PTI