FIH Pro League: Indian women beat Germany 3-0 in shoot-out, avenge first leg defeat

Bhubaneswar, Mar 13: The Indian women's hockey team beat Germany 3-0 in a dramatic shoot-out to avenge their first leg defeat to share the honours in the two-legged tie of the FIH Pro League here on Sunday (March 13).

The home side had lost 1-2 in the shoot-out in the first match at the same Kalinga Stadium here on Saturday. Just like on Saturday (March 12), both the teams were locked at 1-1 at the end of the regulation time, leading to the shoot-out.

India were successful from all their first three attempts in the shoot-out while none of the Germans could score from their three tries with home side skipper and goal-keeper Savita doing a brilliant job to deny the visitors.

Earlier, Felicia Wiedermann gave world number 5 Germany the lead in the 29th minute through a penalty corner conversion but Nisha equalised in the 40th minute through a field goal.

World number 9 India secured two points from the match, including a bonus point while Germany collected one point. India's next matches are against England on April 2 and 3 at the same venue.

Earlier on Saturday, Indian eves lost 1-2 to Germany in a shoot-out after both the teams were locked at 1-1 at the end of the regulation time.

Early goals from Navneet Kaur (4th minute) and Carlotta Sippel (5th) set the tone for what was an exciting contest between world No. 9 India and world No. 5 Germany.

Both teams wasted numerous scoring chances to finish tied after the end of the regulation 60 minutes, forcing the match into shoot-out where the Germans did just enough to come out on top.

Navneet scored the only goal for India in the shoot-out even as Sharmila Devi, Neha Goyal, Laremsiami and Monika wasted their chances.

For Germany, Pauline Heinz and Sara Strauss found the net in the shoot-out, which was enough for the visitors to eke out a favourable result.

Playing their debut season in the Pro League, the Indian women made a fine start to their campaign, beating China 7-1 and 2-1 in their opening two games in Muscat. The Indians then defeated world No. 6 Spain 2-1 at home before slumping to a 3-4 defeat in the return-leg last month.

The draw after regulation time ensured India to secure one point from the match, while the Germans secured two points, including a bonus.