Hosts India extended their unbeaten form to reach the final at the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy 2023. The Indians defeated Asian Games silver medallist South Korea 2-0 in the semifinal on Saturday. The Savita Punia-led side will next face Japan in the final.
Also Read: India defeat Korea 5-0, extends unbeaten run in Women’s Hockey Asian Champions Trophy 2023
Salima Tete (11th minute) and Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke (19th) scored goals for India in the match. Following their 5-0 win against Korea in the last league game, the Indians started from where they left. They pressed hard on the Japanese goal from the start.
India soon earned successive penalty corners in the third minute. However the Japanese defence stood tall with goalkeeper Kim Eunji making a good save. India continued to apply pressure and finally tasted success in the 11th minute. Salima gave the lead by hitting a goal on counter-attack. With that India ended the first quarter with a lead.
In the second quarter, India managed to double their lead within four minutes from a penalty corner. Vaishnavi scored with a reverse flick on a rebound from the Korean keeper. With this, the hosts managed to enter the halfway break with a two-goal cushion.
The Koreans came out in the second-half with a positive intent. They made some attacking moves but were not able to realise them into goals. They earned back-to-back penalty corners but failed to penetrate the Indian defence. India quickly changed the momentum and earned back-to-back penalty corners. However they failed to utilise the chances.
In the final quarter, the Indians preferred to focus on defence especially after two players — Jyoti and Vandana Kataraiya, were shown cards in the final five minutes of the game. Korea earned another penalty corner four minutes from the final hooter but failed to beat India captain Savita Punia in front of the goal.
