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Journalism of Courage
Coach Harendra Singh is a firm believer in prioritising process over results. It’s an aspect he has been trying to drill down to his players since he took over the reins of the Indian women’s hockey team. Taking a cue from that, it is important not to read too much into India’s 11-0 win against Thailand, ranked 20 places below them, in a Pool B clash at the Women’s Asia Cup in Hangzhou on Thursday.
What caught the eye, however, was how India went about their business in the first match of the tournament without their main goalscoring weapon.
Deepika’s injury-enforced absence from the Asia Cup – a World Cup qualifier – will perhaps be felt more keenly in the subsequent challenges of the tournament, starting with Japan on Saturday. When the sides met in Rajgir at the Asian Champions Trophy last year, India won 13-0, with Deepika scoring five goals and Manisha Chauhan also contributing from a Penalty Corner. Neither dragflicker is in the squad for the campaign in Hangzhou, so Harendra had mentioned that the onus will be on the returning Udita to be the primary threat from short corners.
While she indeed was, scoring two goals and setting up one more, India tried a few other options as well. For starters, India’s first four goals were all from open play, and it wasn’t until four minutes were left in the first half that they won their first PC. That in itself was worthy of praise as the forwards and midfielders repeatedly penetrated the Thailand defence and looked for teammates or shots at goal instead of searching for a foot or a foul to win the set piece.
When the first PC arrived, it was Udita who lined up as the first choice. While she has been an option from set pieces, her signature style is to go for the low slap on goal, so there is an air of predictability to it, meaning goalkeepers can go into the log position to stop the ball. Udita did eventually put India ahead at the stroke of half-time with India’s second PC – although there is no footage of the strike because the broadcaster cut to first-half highlights.
In Q3, India’s third PC saw the first variation as Neha lined up as an option to hit the ball low, and the strike thundered into the post. Udita took the fourth PC, which was blocked off by the rusher. From the fifth set piece, Udita lined up in the second battery for a change of angle, but the ball flew wide.
If there was one strike that augured particularly well for India, it was the sixth PC. Right at the end of Q3, Udita struck a low slap once more, but this time the ball was deflected over the defence by the outstretched stick of Beauty Dungdung – a reminder of the now-retired Vandana Katariya. It’s perhaps the hardest PC routine to defend in women’s hockey when executed well.
Early in Q4, there was a surprise as Suman Devi Thoudam lined up in the first battery for the seventh PC and and she went for a low slap too, this time Mumtaz Khan getting the last touch. From the eighth PC shortly after, Udita executed a variation herself by taking a touch to her right to change the angle of the slapshot to beat the goalkeeper to her left.
After a couple of other missed PCs, India scored off their 11th set piece with an inventive variation: the injection was rotated all the way from left to right, and after 3-4 passes across, the ball was fed into the waiting stick of Sharmila Devi at the far post to make it 10-0.
Beauty’s hat-trick, Mumtaz’s typically gritty brace, Sangita Kumari’s return to the team with a nice early goal, and Navneet Kaur’s creativity from open play were other positives for India in the absence of Deepika. Against Thailand, coach Harendra’s side looked prepared to find solutions to fill the forward-cum-dragflicker’s boots for bigger tests ahead.
