Asian Games 2023: Indian womens hockey team makes vigorous comeback to draw game against Korea 1-1 in the nail-biting encounter

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India women's hockey team took on Korea in the Pool A match of the Asian Games 2023 on Sunday (October 1). India made a strong comeback in the third quarter to level the scorecard (1-1) and their third pool match ended up in a draw.

The two goals in the match came from Hyejin CHO and Navneet Kaur. While CHO (12') gave Korea the lead in the first quarter itself, India's Navneet Kaur (44') put the ball into the nets, late in the third quarter to equalise the score.

Right from the beginning of the game, both teams looked sharp with their attack. However, Korea converted their chance early and took the lead. Just when the Koreans were looking to take the game away by scoring another goal, the Indian team Vice Captain and defender Deep Grace Ekka made a brilliant goal-line save to deny Korea from going in front.

After avoiding the early scare, India quickly settled into a passing rhythm while controlling the majority of possession and Sangita Kumari even got a good opportunity to give India the lead as she was past Korea's defense line and had to beat their goalkeeper but she could not keep her shot on target thus missing out on a great chance.

Meanwhile, Korea switched to counter-attacking and it paid off when they won the penalty stroke, which was converted by Hyejin CHO (12') without much difficulty. Following that, India upped the ante in search of an equaliser, repeatedly testing Korea's defense and even coming close to scoring on multiple occasions, but were unable to find the back of the net as the first quarter ended with Korea leading 1-0.

In the second quarter, India increased the frequency of their attacks in an attempt to level the score courtesy of which they even won two penalty corners but failed to capitalise on any of them. Also, Sangita Kumari once again had a big opportunity to score an equaliser with just the goalkeeper to beat but her shot was off target.

In terms of possession and creating chances, it was India who dominated the second quarter and came close to scoring quite a few times but somehow couldn't thus allowing Korea to maintain their 1-0 lead at the half-time break.

To capitalise on their lead, Korea launched a strong offensive push in the third quarter, earning an early penalty corner, but couldn't convert it. Meanwhile, India remained determined to equalise and kept Korea's defense under pressure by rigorous attacking and it paid dividends as Navneet Kaur (44') converted a penalty corner to put the Indian team on level terms as the third quarter ended with the score tied at 1-1.

High on confidence after scoring the equaliser, India came out all guns blazing in the fourth and final quarter of the match, however, Korea not only soaked the pressure well but also kept checking India's defence. The Indian team, on the other hand, switched to counter-attacking in search of the winning goal and even won a penalty corner in the closing minutes of the game but were unable to convert it. The final quarter didn't witness a single goal as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

This draw keeps India right on top of the Pool A points tally. India are unbeaten so far in this championships. Notably, Korea who played a draw with India today, also have the same no. of points as India (seven) and are unbeaten. However, they stand in the second position as of now because India have a better goal difference than them.

Indian Women's Hockey Team will next take on Hong Kong China in their last Pool A match on Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023 at 0745 hrs IST.

Schedule of the Indian Women's Hockey Team:

On 3rd October 2023, India Vs Hong Kong China at 0745 hrs IST

The matches will be broadcast live on Sony Sports Network and live stream on Sony Liv.