Women's Junior Asia Cup 2023: India team registers thumping win against Uzbekistan

NEW DELHI: The Indian Junior Women's Hockey Team kicked off their Women's Junior Asia Cup 2023 campaign in emphatic fashion as they defeated Uzbekistan 22-0 in their first game of the tournament in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, Japan on Saturday.

The scorers for India were Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke (3', 56'), Mumtaz Khan (6', 44', 47', 60'), Annu (13', 29', 30', 38', 43', 51'), Sunelita Toppo (17', 17'), Manju Chorsiya (26'), Deepika Soreng (18', 25'), Deepika (32', 44', 46', 57'), and Neelam (47').

India began the contest on the front foot; attacking Uzbekistan with regularity courtesy of which they were able to take an early lead in the game as Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke (3') converted a penalty corner, while Mumtaz Khan (6') doubled the Indian team's lead moments later by scoring a field goal. Annu (13') added to the team's tally by netting a goal as the opening quarter ended with India having a 3-0 lead.

The second quarter was no different than the first as India continued to dominate the game by keeping the ball possession and continuously attacking and it helped them extend their lead by a big margin as Sunelita Toppo (17', 17'), Manju Chorsiya (26'), Deepika Soreng (18', 25'), Anu (29', 30') netted goals to help India go into the half-time break with a 10-0 lead.

Despite having a healthy lead, the Indian team were showing no signs of slowing down in the third quarter and continued to dominate the proceedings with Deepika (32') netting a goal through a penalty corner, while Annu (38', 43') scored two more goals to help India take 13-0 lead. There would be more to come as India played free-flowing hockey, and Mumtaz Khan (44') and Deepika (44') scored their respective second goals of the match, making it 15-0 by the end of the third quarter.

The Indian team were eager to score more goals and they did precisely the same by scoring three quick goals in the fourth quarter through Deepika (46'), Mumtaz Khan (47'), and Neelam (47') to make it 18-0. However, that was not all as Annu (51') scored off a penalty stroke, which was also her sixth goal of the match, while Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke (56') netted her second goal of the game to make it 20-0 for India. A minute later, Deepika (57') smashed home her shot from a penalty corner following which Mumtaz Khan (60') netted a goal as the match ended 22-0 in favour of India.

The Indian Junior Women's Hockey Team will next play against Malaysia in their second Pool game on 5th June.