India women hammer South Africa, top Pool D
Mumbai, Aug. 19 -- In their first two games at the Women's Hockey World Cup, two sides to the Indian team have been on display. Against Olympic silver medallists China in the opener, India were courageous. They played with discipline against a strong opposition.
On Tuesday against South Africa, the lowest ranked team in the tournament, the chemistry seemed off as the passes were awry and individual errors were unmistakable.
However, India will not mind the 6-1 victory at the Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen. It saw India climb to the top of Pool D with one match to go. India recorded their biggest World Cup win, going better than the 4-1 triumph over Spain in 1974. Yet there remains a lot to work on.
In the halftime interview, head coach Sjoerd Marijne lamented about "too many individual errors" being committed by his players. This was when India were already leading 3-0.
Marijne's views were justified as the frontline struggled to string together enough telling passes to dissect the South African defence, which had been error prone. When India did manage to get those passes together, the final shot lacked sting. The first goal came more as a gift. Navneet Kaur, who did have a good game, pushed the ball forward. It was a hopeful pass that did not have much pace on it. Inexplicably, two South African defenders fluffed their attempted clearances and the ball fell kindly to Sunelita Toppo, who had the simple task of tapping in at close range.
Navneet also scored the second goal, this time following a penalty corner. The third came through the unlikeliest of sources. Sushila Chanu got to the ball first after a shot was blocked during a penalty corner routine. From a sharp angle, she hit powerfully towards the far post.
The ball caught South Africa goalkeeper Marlise van Tonder's stick and deflected into the goal....
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