Asian Games: India bows out 0-4 against China in women’s hockey semis

Hangzhou: The Indian women's hockey team lost to China 0-4 in the first semi-final of the Asian Games here on Thursday.

India had numerous scoring opportunities but fell short, as China scored four goals through Jiaqi Zhong (25'), Meirong Zou (40'), Meiyu Liang (55'), and Bingfeng GU (60').

The match kicked off with China swiftly infiltrating deep into India's territory, immediately challenging India's defence. This early offensive move resulted in China earning the first Penalty Corner of the game, but India's Captain and goalkeeper, Savita, came up with a crucial save to prevent China from taking the lead.

Simultaneously, the Indian team attempted to take command of the game by applying pressure on China and executing rapid passes. Nonetheless, China continued to display its attacking prowess, maintaining pressure on India, who defended admirably to keep China at bay.

The second quarter commenced on the same note with China attacking rigorously which earned them an early penalty corner, but once again Savita came to India’s rescue with a good save.

However, China was finally able to break the deadlock by capitalising on a penalty corner, which saw the shot by Jiaqi Zhong (25’) get deflected off Nikki Pradhan’s foot before crossing the goal-line.

With the scoreline in their favour, China continued to dominate India and entered halftime with a 1-0 lead.

Desperate to find an equaliser, India upped the ante in the third quarter, but China continued to dominate the proceedings by testing India’s defence at regular intervals and it paid off when Meirong Zou (40’) scored through a penalty corner to extend her side’s lead.

With the scoreline against them, India increased their attacking frequency and also won consecutive penalty corners but wasn’t able to capitalise on them as Deep Grace Ekka’s shot inside the goal was deemed dangerous.

The penultimate quarter ended with China leading 2-0.

In their pursuit of bouncing back in the game, India attacked relentlessly in the fourth and final quarter of the game, but it was China that once again found the back of the net, and this time through counter-attacking as Meiyu Liang (55’), penetrated India’s defence line at left flank and scored off rebound despite Nikki Pradhan’s attempt to save the ball.

China then went on to score one more goal in the dying minutes as Bingfeng GU (60’) converted a penalty corner to ensure a 4-0 win for her team.

With this victory, China made it to the Final of the tournament, while India will next play against either Korea or Japan in the Bronze medal match on Saturday, 7th October 2023 at 1330hrs IST.

India will now play against the winner of Korea and Japan for the Bronze medal on Saturday.

With inputs from IANS