The Indian women's hockey team has made it two wins out of two as they clinched a thriller against South Korea 3-2 in the Women's Asian Champions Trophy group match in Rajgir, Bihar, on Tuesday.
India dominated the proceedings in the first half, taking a 2-0 lead thanks to Sangita Kumari and Deepika but South Korea bounced back in the second half, making it 2-2 after goals from Yuri Lee and Eunbi Cheon. The winning goal came from Deepika as she converted a stroke in the 57th minute.
Harendra Singh's team were off to a good start as they enjoyed more possession thanks to Korea's deep defending. The opening goal came in the third minute after Neha found space in the midfield and passed it to Navneet who found Sangita inside the D. The Indian forward made space for the shot and went with a reverse hit to give India 1-0 lead.
They doubled the lead in the 20th minute after superb work by Sunelita Toppo and Beauty Dungdung. Sunelita won the won in the attacking half and passed it to Beauty the right flank. She entered the circle and eventually passed it to Deepika who made no mistake from a close range.
After the break, Korea upped the ante and started putting India under pressure with their relentless attacks. Their opening goal came from a penalty corner as Navneet Kaut failed to clear the rebound and Yuri Lee converted her chance close to the goalkeeper in the 34th minute.
Four minutes later, Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke fouled inside the circle with a bad tackle and the umpire pointed to the spot for a stroke. Cheon scored the goal which made it 2-2.
Both teams pushed hard to score the winning goal in the final quarter but the big chance fell to India after a foul Navneet inside the D which resulted in a stroke. Deepika stepped up and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to make 3-2 in the 57th minute.
India will next play Thailand on Thursday while South Korea will up against Malaysia.
You can relive all the updates from the match on our blog below: