AUGUST 31, 2018
India lost 1-2 to Japan to settle for the silver medal on Friday.- Hockey India
JAKARTA, INDONESIA – Indian women’s team settled for silver in women’s hockey on Friday after losing the final against Japan at Asian Games 2018.
In the final, Shimuzi Minami and Motomi Kawamura scored a goal each as world No 12 Japan registered a 2-1 win over the 9th ranked India.
Both the Japanese goals were scored through penalty corners. Minami opened the scoring in 11th minute, after which India pulled one back in the 25th minute through Neha Goyal.
The winning goal came in the dying minutes of the third quarter, when Motomi scored through a variation in the set-piece situation.
It was India’s second silver at the Asian Games and the first since the 1998 Bangkok Games, when they ended runners-up after losing to South Korea.
FT| The Indian Women’s Hockey Team were put to the test by a challenging Japanese side as they claim the Silver medal at the @asiangames2018 after a valiant effort by the Eves goes unrewarded on 31st August.#IndiaKaGame #AsianGames2018 #INDvJPN pic.twitter.com/lxEMBNLauV
Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) August 31, 2018
The loss also means that India’s 36-year wait for a gold in women’s hockey at the Games has now been stretched for a minimum of four more years. India’s previous Asiad gold came in 1982 in New Delhi.
It was India’s first loss at the continental event in 2018. They reached the final with a 1-0 over China in the semi-finals. Before that, Rani Rampal and Co had registered huge victories against Indonesia (8-0), Kazakhstan (21-0), Korea (4-1) and Thailand (5-0) in the pool stages.
Courtesy: India Today / NDTV
