Santiago [Chile], January 25 (ANI): A fruitful and exciting Tour of Chile came to a very positive end for the Indian Junior Women’s Hockey Team as they defeated the Chile Senior Women’s Team 2-1 in their sixth and last match held here on Sunday evening.
Forward Beauty Dungdung’s brace scored in the 6th and 26th minutes gave India a much-deserved win. The lone goal for the hosts was scored by Francisca Tala (40′).
The Indian Junior Women’s team started proceedings on the front-foot as they created pressure on their hosts, and open the scoring in the 6th minute, with talented young Forward Beauty Dungdung converting a beautiful team move. The early advantage worked in India’s favour as they maintained the pressure on their opponents and ended the first quarter with a 1-0 lead.
The second period also saw India create opportunities, and get rewarded for their efforts as Beauty Dungdung scored again, but this time through a Penalty Corner in the 26th minute to extend India’s lead to two goals. India’s dominance, however, was under threat just two minutes later when Chile were awarded a Penalty Corner for an infringement inside the striking circle by India. But the visitors’ defensive skills came to their rescue as they kept out the following execution to take their 2-0 lead into the half-time break.
It was Chile’s turn to dominate proceedings in the third quarter, as they piled pressure on the Indian defense by keeping possession. It was only in the 40th minute that the hosts were able to make use of their dominance as they pulled a goal back through Francisca Tala, who finished off a team move.
Chile’s Senior team tried to force their way back into the match in the last quarter as well, but India showed resilience and grit to avoid conceding an equaliser. The visiting team themselves had a few opportunities to extend their lead, but could not take their chances. With six minutes remaining on the clock, Chile had a glimmer of hope to score, through a Penalty Corner, but India maintained a solid back-line to keep the score at 2-1 and see out the win.
With their narrow win in the sixth and final match of Tour of Chile, the young Indian team returns to the country with an undefeated streak, winning five and drawing a match during their outing in Chile’s national capital of Santiago. (ANI)
