Indian women finished their Asia Cup hockey tournament on a disappointing note after going down 2-4 to China in the third place play-off match.
HONG KONG: Indian women finished their Asia Cup hockey tournament on a disappointing note after going down 2-4 to China in the third place play-off match here on Sunday.
Ma Yi Bo scored a couple while Song Qing Ling and Li Hong Xia netted one each to win the bronze medal for China while Suman Bala and Jasjeet Kaur narrowed the margin for the 13th ranked India.
The match started at a cracking pace as fifth-ranked China stormed the Indian goal mouth from the opening whistle with Tang Chung Ling, one of the leading scorers, having a wild swing and missing the ball completely when she only had Indian goalkeeper Marita Tirkey to beat.
Two minutes later, Marita made a fine save from an acute angle shot fired in by Xia.
As the action quickly moved to the Chinese circle, their goalkeeper Zhang Yi Ming thwarted a deflection by Indian captain Mamta Kharab in the 6th minute.
China then took control of the match despite Indian attempts to slow down the blistering early pace and a Chinese attack launched by Ling down the left flank saw her latch on to a rebound and beat Marita and give her team a 1-0 lead.
China's pace earned them several penalty corners, and in the 22nd minute captain Ma Yi Bo converted one with a superbly taken flick, high into the net to make it 2-0.
Five minutes later, Xia struck home after an Indian lapse in defence on the right.
With China continuously probing the Indian defence with speedy runs down the flanks, the half time score stood at 3-0.
The pattern continued at the resumption with China again forcing yet another penalty corner in the 42nd minute and Bo completing her brace.
However, the Indians fought back and got a rare penalty corner, which was converted by vice-captain Suman Bala.
Two Indian players, Joydeep Kaur and top forward Jasjeet Kaur, received yellow cards for rough play in 53rd and 56th minutes respectively. But, surprisingly China could not take advantage of nine-member Indian side left on the turf for a short period.
Back to full strength, India put in a strong finish to pull back another goal when Jasjeet led an attack down the right to draw the defence and score in the 69th minute.
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