Vice President Dhankhar congratulates junior women’s hockey team for their maiden Asia Cup title

New Delhi [India], June 12 (ANI): Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday congratulated the Indian women’s hockey team for clinching their maiden Women’s Junior Asia Cup crown after they defeated Korea with a score of 2-1 in a captivating final match.

The Indian junior women’s hockey team emerged as Champions of the Women’s Junior Asia Cup 2023 held in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, Japan by defeating Korea with a score of 2-1 in a captivating Final match on Sunday. While Annu (22′) and Neelam (41′) scored one goal each for India, it was the team’s collective efforts that ultimately led to their triumphant victory in this crucial encounter.

Notably, this is the first time that India have won the Women’s Junior Asia Cup.

“Heartiest congratulations to our young champions for the remarkable victory at the 2023 Women’s Hockey Junior Asia Cup! Your determination, skill and stellar teamwork have made the nation immensely proud. Best wishes for your promising journey ahead,” Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar tweeted.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated Team India for achieving this feat and took to Twitter to laud the Indian women’s team for their hard work and exceptional performances in the tournament.

“Congratulations to our young champions on winning the 2023 Women’s Hockey Junior Asia Cup! The team has shown immense perseverance, talent and teamwork. They have made our nation very proud. Best wishes to them for their endeavours ahead,” PM Modi said in a tweet.

In acknowledgement of the team’s exceptional performance and their undefeated streak in the prestigious tournament, leading them to secure a spot in the FIH Women’s Junior World Cup 2023 in Chile, the Hockey India Executive Board has proudly declared a cash prize of INR 2.00 Lakh for each player, while the support staff will receive INR 1.00 Lakh each as a token of appreciation.

Coming to the match, India started the game on an attacking note by winning a penalty corner in the opening minute of the game, but they failed to capitalise on it. However, Korea shifted the momentum in their favour by counter-attacking and controlling the possession. They also won an early penalty corner but Neelam made a goal-line clearance to deny Korea from taking the lead. Despite both teams playing an attacking game, the first quarter ended goalless.

Korea stuck to their attacking approach in the second quarter as well thus pushing India on backfoot. Kore were also awarded quite a few penalty corners, however, India not only stood strong in defence to keep the opposition’s attackers at bay but also put Korea under pressure by taking the lead through Annu (22′) who calmly converted a penalty stroke.

However, India’s lead didn’t last long as Seoyeon Park (25′) scored an equaliser for Korea through a well-placed shot from inside the D. The second quarter didn’t witness any more goals as both teams went into the half-time break with the score level at 1-1.

The second half of the match started with Korea focused on keeping the possession, while the Indian team switched to counter-attacking and it paid off as Neelam (41′) brilliantly converted a penalty corner to put India in front as the third quarter ended with the score 2-1 in the favour of the Indian team.

In order to protect their lead, India shifted their focus on defending and controlling the tempo of the game by keeping possession in the fourth quarter, while, on the other hand, Korea made some forced errors and misdirected passes in their desperation of finding an equaliser. Ultimately, India stood strong and stuck to their strategy to win the summit clash 2-1.