The Indian women's hockey team beat Germany 3-0 in a dramatic shoot-out to avenge their first leg defeat to share the honours in the two-legged tie of the FIH Pro League in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. (More Hockey News)
The home side had lost 1-2๐ in the shoot-out in the first match at the same Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar on Saturday.
๊ฆJust like on Saturday, both the teams were locked at 1-1 at the end of the regulation time, leading to the shoot-out.
๐Kumari Sangita, Tete Salima and Sonika scored from their attempts in the shoot-out while none of the Germans from among Lilly Stoffelsma, Lena Frerichs and Sara Strauss could score from their three tries with the home side skipper and goal-keeper Savita doing a brilliant job to deny the visitors.
๐Earlier, Felicia Wiedermann gave world number 5 Germany the lead in the 29th minute through a penalty corner conversion but Nisha equalised in the 40th minute through a field goal.ย
๐World number 9 India secured two points from the match, including a bonus point while Germany collected one point.
๐India climbed one place to sit at second spot in the FIH Pro League standings with 12 points from six games, below Argentina (12 points from four matches).
๊ฆฏIndia got three penalty corners in the match but could not utilise any one of them while Germany converted one from the five PCs they earned in the match.
๐The first quarter was dominated by India with 89 per cent ball possession and five circle entries but a goal eluded them.ย
๐The Germans came back stronger in the second quarter which they had slight domination. They had more possession and more circle penetration in this session. They took the lead from one of the two penalty corners they got in this quarter with Felicia Wiedermann finding the target one minute before the half time.
โIndia's debutant goalkepeer Kharibam Bichu Devi also saved a crucial penalty stroke in the second quarter.ย
โThe home side came out with renewed vigour in the third quarter and equalised in the 40th minute through a field goal from the stick of Nisha, following a nice team buil-up. ย
๐India's next matches are against England on April 2 and 3 at the same venue.ย
๐ถPlaying their debut season in the Pro League, the Indian women made a fine start to their campaign, beating China 7-1 and 2-1 in their opening two games in Muscat.
โจThe Indians then defeated world No. 6 Spain 2-1 at home before slumping to a 3-4 defeat in the return-leg last month.
