4th Women's ACT Day 1 Review - Asian Hockey Federation

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Singapore (29 Oct, 2016): Korea overcame a gritty Malaysia 5-2 and India held Japan to a 2-2 draw in day one of the 4^th Women Asian Champions Trophy at the Sengkang Hockey Stadium in Singapore on Saturday.

The Koreans are ranked 9^th in the FIH world rankings and shot to a 3-0 lead within a space of six minutes in the first quarter with field goals from Hyejin Cho (3^rd), Seul Ki Cheon (4^th) and Miyeon Park in the sixth minute.

The Malaysians, who are 12 rungs below the Koreans in world rankings, found enough space in the second quarter to reduce the deficit 3-2 through field goals from Nor Faiezah Mohd Saiuti (20^th) and Nuraini Rashid (26^th).

Eeseul Baek made it 4-2 by the 32^nd minute and Miyeon returned to score her second and Korea’s fifth goal in the 52^nd minute.

Malaysian Tigress head coach, K. Dharmaraj, said: “The team found its rhythm in the second quarter. We had faced the same situation in the Australian Hockey League. But there were many positives in this match.”

“The players did well to pressure the Koreans and made several attempts in the semi-circles to earn penalty corners. We have never had such opportunities like receiving penalty corners in our past matches against Korea, China and Japan. So overall I am very happy with their performance. We just need to cut down mistakes in next matches.”

World No 12 India opened the scoring in the third quarter through Deepak’s field goal and Deep Grace Ekka increased the lead in the 42^nd minute, successfully converting a penalty corner.

The Japanese equalised in the fourth quarter in quick succession. Miki Kozuka’s goal in the 47th minute was followed by Yukari Mano’s equaliser in the 50th minute. Japan earned three penalty corners with five to the hooter but the Indian defence stood tall.

The match was also a personal achievement for team captain Vandana Katariya, who played in her 150th international match today. She made her debut in 2006 the junior squad and subsequently called to join the seniors in 2010.

India will play their next match against Korea on Sunday and Malaysia Tigress against China.

You can find daily match schedules here: https://goo.gl/tgstWw

For live stream: https://goo.gl/94HLfD