The Indian Under-18 women's hockey team lost in penalty shootouts to China in the semifinals and got knocked out of the gold medal contention in the Under-18 Asian Championships here on Friday.
After an intense and well-fought 2-2 draw over four quarters, the Indians lost 1-3 in the shootout. Nousheen Naz (3rd minute) and Kiran Ekka (54th) scored the goals for India while Li ZeYan (24th) and Zhang Yuzheng (48th) sounded the board for China in the regulation time.
The Indians will now compete for the 3rd place on Saturday.
India made a bright start in the first quarter, securing the opening goal in the third minute itself. Captain Sweety Kujur played a brilliant pass from the mid-field to Nousheen inside the circle who delivered a strong back-handed shot into the net to give India an early lead.
China were awarded a penalty corner in the 21st minute but Feng Jiaxin's drag-flick was saved by Indian goalkeeper Mahak Parihar. Three minutes later, however, China found the equaliser due to a defensive error by India, which China's Li ZeYan capitalised on to level the game with a field goal.
In the third quarter, India received consecutive penalty corners, but could not breach the Chinese post. Despite multiple chances at both ends, the match remained tied at 1-1 as the teams entered the fourth quarter.
The third minute of the final quarter saw China go ahead through a penalty corner. Although the initial shot was blocked by India's first rusher, the ball went to China's Zhang Yuzheng (48th) on the rebound, and she delivered a calm finish to give her side a slim advantage.
The lead only lasted for a few minutes as India's Kiran (54th) converted a penalty corner to equalise and it remained 2-2 at the end of regulation time.
China defeated India 3-1 in the shootout courtesy of some brilliant saves by their goalkeeper Liu Xue. Lu Tong Tong, Ge Chen and Guo Jiaxin converted their chances in the shootout for China while Sandeepa Kumari was the only player for India to score.
The second women's semi-final will be played between Japan and Korea. India will take on the loser of that match for the bronze medal on Saturday. PTI PM PM PDS
