Indian junior hockey girls beat England to finish third

A still from match between India and England (image credits: Hockey India)

Breda (The Netherlands), July 26 (IANS)

India finished third after beating England 1-0 (1-1) via penalty shoot-out in the women's Volvo International Under-21 hockey tournament on Sunday.

Goalkeeper Inderpreet Kaur was the hero for India as she brilliantly thwarted all attempts by the Englishwomen during the penalty shoot-out as Deep Grace Ekka converted the only penalty.

Indian defenders marked their English counterparts clinically

Earlier, India saw Punam Barla's 31st-minute strike was cancelled out by England skipper Hannah Martin, who converted a penalty corner two minutes from the stoppage time.

In the first half of the match, India, who lost to England 0-1 on Saturday, put a strong defensive structure in place to avoid conceding early goals. Indian defenders marked their English counterparts clinically.

However, they were not able to break the English defence before forward Punam sneaked in the opponent's circle and scored a field goal to give India the initiative. The second half saw more aggression from the Indians as England looked hungry for the equaliser.

England penetrated Indian defence and earned three back-to-back penalty corners but all were thwarted by goalkeeper Inderpreet. India too tried to double their lead and earned another penalty corner only to be foiled by England custodian Amy Tennant.

With just two minutes left, England managed to earn a penalty corner and skipper Hannah brought her side to level. It led to a penalty shoot-out which was won by India.