Junior Asia Cup Hockey: Indian Women Clinch Title With Win Over Korea

The Indian junior women’s hockey team brought laurels to the nation as they triumphed over Korea 2-1 in the final of the Junior Asia Cup tournament in Japan on Sunday.

Indian star products Annu and Neelam came up with the decisive goals in the summit clash to edge out the opponents and manage to get their hands on the coveted prize.

Annu was honoured with the top scorer of the tournament award for her sterling performance that helped the nation in its pursuit.

India went ahead in the first quarter of the championship match as Annu broke the deadlock. But the lead did not last long as the Koreans clawed their way back to level the score in the same quarter as Park Seoyeon netted for them.

After an evenly contested second quarter, the teams were level at halftime at 1-1.

But, things took a turn in the third quarter of the championship clash as India inched ahead thanks to Neelam.

Despite a few nervy moments towards the end of the game, India managed to hold on to their slender lead and see the game out to clinch the prestigious event.

India opened the tournament with a 22-0 demolition of Uzbekistan before edging out Malaysia 2-1.

India and Korea played out an entertaining 2-2 draw before India went on a scoring spree again in their final Pool A match against Chinese Taipei.

Indian managed to beat hosts Japan in the semifinal with a hard-fought 1-0 win to book their place in the final.

And the Indian girls went on to stake their claim as the bets team in the tournament with their statement win over Korea in the championship clash.