India women finish with silver medal at junior Asia Cup hockey

Bangkok – India lost 2-5 to China and finished with a silver medal at the sixth Junior Women’s Asia Cup hockey championship here Saturday.

This was India’s best showing in the tournament after four bronze medals.

Taking the pitch against a team that had beaten it 2-5 in the Group A league, India played superbly to lead the Chinese 2-0 after 25 minutes, when a 10-minute interruption because of rain hampered their rhythm.

Deep Grace Ekka scored in the seventh minute courtesy a penalty stroke while skipper and midfielder Ritu Rani scored a field goal four minutes later. India had the better of the exchanges for another quarter-hour before a spell of rain forced play to be suspended.

Five minutes after play resumed, Na Wang scored a field goal to reduce the margin and turn the tide. She scored off a penalty corner two minutes into the second half to restore parity. Weija Hao struck two goals in three minutes to give China a 4-2 lead.

Jiaqi Li completed the rout in the 48th minute. India beat Japan 2-1 in the semifinal.

The Indian team has qualified for the Junior Women’s World Cup to be held next year.