The Indian women’s hockey team registered a resounding victory over Great Britain in the fourth match of the New Zealand tour on Tuesday thanks to a brilliant goal by Captain Rani Rampal. The Indian team beat Great Britain 1–0 in the fourth match. Rani Rampal scored the decisive goal in the 47th minute. This is the second victory of the Indian women’s hockey team on the New Zealand tour.
The visiting team beat the New Zealand development squad 4–0 in their first match of the tour. After this, the Indian team lost two matches against their senior team. India lost to New Zealand 1-2 in the second match and 0-1 in the third match.
The Indian team, led by Rani playing in this match, played this match with full force and took an aggressive stance from the beginning. The team was also rewarded for their aggressive approach as they got a penalty Connor early on, but the visiting team could not convert it into a goal. The Indian team however, continued their attack and remained goalless in the first half. The Indian defense also looked flawless as the defenders showed good synergy and the players gave each other better passes.
After the first half, the story remained the same even in the third quarter. In the third quarter too, the Indian team could not take advantage of a penalty corner and the scores remained leveled at 0-0.
However, the skipper of the Indian team Rani, who recently became the first hockey player in the world to win the prestigious ‘World Games Athlete of the Year’ Award, had some other plans. In the 47th minute in the fourth quarter, Rani’s brilliant goal helped India take a 1-0 lead. The Indian team maintained its lead till the end and registered their second win on this tour.
After the match, Sjoerd Marijne, India chief coach, said, “We created enough chances and now we need to keep working on converting those chances but our defence stood strong through the match which was a good thing.”
He further added, “Towards the end of the match, we were under pressure but the team handled it well and even ensured a goal. The win is good for a morale boost but for me it’s all about the performance and I see we can grow and become more dominant and calmer on the ball.”
