Limburg: The Indian women's hockey team lost 2-3 to China in its first preparatory match for the Asian Games 2023, in Germany’s Limburg on Sunday night.
Navneet Kaur scored for India in the 24th and 45th minutes, while Chen Jiali in the 9th minute, Zhong Jiaqi in the 45th, and Xu Yanan 51st minute, scored goals for China.
Both the teams got off the blocks swiftly in the first quarter.
It was India who attacked aggressively and earned a penalty corner (PC) in the third minute but was saved by a strong Chinese defence.
A few minutes later, an infringement while defending saw India concede a penalty stroke.
China capitalised on the chance and scored their first goal in the ninth minute. The next few minutes saw both the teams trade PCs but neither could convert from the chances.
India began the second quarter on a positive note. A well-executed attack saw them win back-to-back PCs but the team could not convert from these chances. A fierce attack in the 24th minute saw Kaur score a fine field goal.
India’s next big opportunity came in the 45th minute when an in-form Kaur scored her second goal for a 2-1 lead in the match.
However, it was short-lived as the Chinese team was quick to equalize with a PC through Zhong. They further grabbed a decisive 3-2 lead when Xu scored in the 51st minute.
India will next play back-to-back Test matches versus Germany on Tuesday and Thursday.
With inputs from PTI