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The Indian women’s hockey team put up a tough fight in their second match of the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup 2022 as they drew 1-1 against Asian rivals China at the packed Wagner Hockey Stadium here.
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A goal from Vandana Katariya in the 45th minute of the match helped India take a point when Jiali Zheng opened the account for China in the 26th minute.
India will next face New Zealand in the third match of Pool B on Thursday. It will be a crucial match for the Indian women’s hockey team to make it to the quarter-finals.
India and New Zealand will face each other for the first time in five years. The last time both the teams faced each other was in May 2017.
New Zealand are currently at the top of the Pool B table with four points from two matches, a 2-2 draw against China and a 3-1 win over England.
Vice-captain Ekka said, New Zealand are in good form so far in this tournament. We will watch the video to understand the game of the opposition team and we hope to be ready to go to the competition. It will be a tough match, but we hope we can win to climb up the pool table.
Coach Jenek said New Zealand is expected to face tough competition and gave a glimpse of the team’s strategies going into the match.
He further added, New Zealand will be a tough team to play in again. They are very dangerous in their counterattack and we have to be prepared for it.
Indian women’s hockey team head coach Janek Schopman said, “I think we started well against China. We were unlucky not to score early and a moment of defensive attention resulted in a win.
Vice-captain Deep Grace Ekka said, “I am glad that our team fought China till the end and managed to get a goal back to draw the match against a strong defensive unit. We need to create more opportunities.
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