The Indian Olympian Jude Menezes, the coach of Japan, declared the group-stage encounter against the hosts to be an arm-wrestle contest at halftime.
At this Asian Champions Trophy, a match between teams with perfect records was entertaining. Ultimately, India narrowly prevailed by pushing past to make it four victories from four.
India took the lead thanks to a goal from Navneet Kaur (31′), but Japan responded with a vicious drag flick from Kana Urata (37′).
After intense pushing from both teams, Deepika won and took a number of penalty corners to finally tip the scales in India’s favor. Sangita Kumari (47′) emerged victorious.
When there was a brief gap in the action during the third quarter, India coach Janneke Schopman let out a loud cry of “Deepika” that could be heard all throughout the arena. The 19-year-old forward was having a rough day up until that point.
Although she had a few good opportunities, Japan scored the equalizer in the third quarter when she was given a yellow card. Schopman wasn’t pleased with her pressuring when she returned to the field.
However, she took up the slack at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and India was awarded a penalty corner thanks to a powerful physical piece-play from her. Following a sequence of spot-on drag flicks, Sangita finally found the back of the net to score the game-winning goal.
Coach Schopman talked about Deepika after the game. She is a young athlete with a lot of skill, but she needs to put in a lot of effort and study. Playing in her 300th match today, Van (Vandana Katariya) never lets up and always sets an example for others to follow.
That’s something Deepika can learn a lot about. When I yelled, she was a little bit lethargic, and when she was defending, she became a little bit afraid. However, she is a really skilled drag flicker, so I was thrilled for her when we scored,” the woman remarked.
Even with another convincing victory, Schopman might be concerned by India’s incapacity to convert extended periods of pressure into points.
She had stated following China’s victory on Monday that her squad occasionally fails to recognize that, even with their teams in the desired positions, they don’t end the game.
As the first Indian woman to reach this milestone, Vandana was honoured at the beginning of the event for making her historic 300th appearance abroad. India emerged victorious, defeating Japan 2-1 to take the lead in the standings with 12 points.
Table-toppers delivered the entertainment that appeared to be in store before a ball was hit, so it wouldn’t be shocking if these two teams met again later in the tournament.
