India trample Kazakhs

India started in a defensive mould, relying more on fastbreaks with strikers Pritam Rani Siwatch and Suraj Lata Devi roving in the Kazakh area. The Kazakhstan girls, who had less than three weeks practice prior to the tournament, looked rusty, but kept the Indians in check with sturdy defence.

India forced two penalty corners in the first half, and converted both to lead 2-0 at half time. Kamla Dalal scored the first when captain Sita Gussain’s hit rolled off the Kazakh goalkeeper N Sumkhina’s pads and Kamla flicked it home. The second goal came midway through the first half, this time SurajLata scoring on rebound. However, the Indians never looked like running away with the match.

Coach Gurdyal Singh Bhangu’s pep-talk at the break seemed to have done the trick as the Indians came back a transformed lot. Most of the Indian attacks came from the right flank with Kamla Dalal and Manjinder Kaur — who had an outstanding game — combining well, though most of the goals came from the left.

India’s amazing consistency with penalty corners continued as they converted their third to make it 3-0, Sita Gussain scoring in an indirect sequence. The Kazakhs ran out of steam after that and the Indians went on a rampage.

Jyoti Kullu made it 4-0 on a pass from Manjinder, while Pritam Rani deflected home a rasping hit from the right by Kamla Dalal (5-0). The sixth came in the next minute when Suraj Lata received a pass on top of the circle and had no trouble beating the goalkeeper.

Then came Manjinder’s solo effort as she moved down the middle, and raced inside the circle to let loose a cracker that leftSumkhina rooted. Manjinder scored India’s seventh converting a penalty stroke, which was awarded after Pritam was obstructed by the gaolkeeper. Captain Gussain completed the rout converting India’s 12th penalty corner to make it 9-0.

Later in the evening, the Chinese showed good composure to hold the fancied Koreans. The Korean girls had more say in the initial minutes, and relied on long passes to split open the Chinese midfield. The strategy paid dividend as Soo Jung Kim put Korea ahead latching on a pass from near the half-line.

China’s goalkeeper Yali made atleast four diving saves to keep her team in the hunt. The equaliser came in the dying minutes — Yang Huiping scooping over the Korean goalkeeper.