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Indian eves go down to Aus
Australia staged a 4-2 victory against defending champions India in the opening women's hockey match of the Commonwealth Games.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 10:39 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Melbourne:
Australia staged a 4-2 victory against defending champions India in the opening women's hockey match of the Commonwealth Games. The Indian eves recovered from a first-minute goal by Wendy Beattie to lead 2-1, with Asunta Lakra and Mamta Kharab scoring in the 13th and 22nd minute through penalty corners. But the Hockeyroos hit back through Karen Smith for the equaliser before Rebecca Sanders (41st) and Angela Skirving put it past the Indians in the second half. "The girls have not played a competitive event in the last six months. I think they played quite well," said Indian coach M K Kaushik. "We kept them under pressure right through the first half, but should not have allowed them to come back in the second". Home advantage The Aussies showed great opportunism in their ball possession throughout the match and enjoyed superior territorial advantage. But the team, ranked fourth in the world as compared to India's 13th position, could convert only two of the 10 penalty corners they forced. On the other hand, India had a cent per cent success rate of penalty corner conversion. Taking the lead The Aussies surprised the Indians with their exuberance and took the lead just seconds after the match started. Beattie made full use of a pass from the right and showed opportunism in sounding the boards. After Saba Anjum's good effort at the goal was saved by Aussie goalkeeper, Toni Cronk made a couple of replacements and once Skirving's carpet drive shot off a corner was saved by Kanti Baa. India matched the hosts for a brief period, making good use of the wings and also the centre but lost the ball frequently at the top of the circle, Kim Walker doing a good job for the Aussies with her sharp interceptions. India will now play South Africa on March 19. (PTI)Topics mentioned in this article
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