The Indian women's hockey team kicked off their Asian Games 2023 campaign with a massive 13-0 win over Singapore in Hangzhou on Wednesday.
The scorers for India were Udita (6'), Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam (8’), Deepika (11’), Navneet (14’, 14’), Deep Grace Ekka (17’), Neha (19’), Sangita Kumari (23’, 47’, 53’), Salima Tete (35’), Vandana Katariya (56’) and Monika (52’)
With the win, the women's hockey team climbed to the top of Pool A. The top two teams of each Pool will qualify for the semi-finals.
The Indian women's hockey team, which is ranked seventh, came out strongly against the 34th ranked Singapore. India was given a penalty corner with five minutes played after which Udita drag-flashed it past the Singapore keeper to give her team the lead.
Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam then struck again before SIngapore could recover, while Deepika scored another two goals for India in a flurry. Navneet Kaur scored twice in the last seconds of the first quarter to increase India's lead to 5-0.
Deep Grace Ekka and Neha scored a further two goals in the second quarter. Singita scored the eighth goal for India as they went 8-0 up midway of the game.
Salima Tete, Sangita Kumari, Vandana Katariya and Monika scored five more goals among them in the remaining two quarters to hand India a comfortable win. In a fitting finish to the match, Sangita Kumari scored her hat-trick.
It may be noted that the Indian women's hockey team is set to play Malaysia next in the Asian Games on Friday.
The Indian women’s team has regularly featured at the Asian Games since the 1982 edition, where they won the gold medal. India finished with a silver medal at the last Jakarta Asian Games 2018.
