Hawke’s Bay Cup: Fighting Indian eves lose 2-4 to USA

Anuradha Thokchom

The Indian women’s hockey team put up another spunky performance in the Hawke’s Bay Cup being played in Hastings, New Zealand, but it was not enough as they went down to USA 2-4 and in the process suffered their second straight loss in Pool A.

The 13th ranked Indian eves wrested the initiative in the opening quarter with good possession play and shot into the lead through Anuradha Thokchom to give them the early upper hand. The strike by Anuradha, who was not part of the team that won the Hockey World League Round 2 Event held in New Delhi last month, allowed India to assume control over the proceedings in the opening quarter.

USA leveled things in the second quarter through Jill Witmer as both teams were locked 1-1 at half-time. USA took the lead in the third quarter through Kathleen Sharkley and it was the same lady who again struck in quick succession to take the wind out of India’s sails. India mounted a fightback with Anuradha again coming up with her goal-scoring stick as they trailed USA 2-3 at the end of the third quarter.

The 8th ranked Americans pressed home the advantage in the final quarter, scoring through Julia Reinprecht. USA held out the closing minutes to pull off a fightback win after coming from behind. India will now face world number two Australia in their final league tie after a day’s rest on Tuesday. Earlier, the Indian eves put up a gallant fight against world number five China before they went down 1-2.

Anuradha Thokchom gave India the lead in the early stages of the second half after a goalless first half, raising visions of an upset win for the Blueskirts. But China came into their own when it mattered - Mengyu Wang evened things up three minutes later and four minutes later Qian Yu put her side ahead for the first time in the match.