It's time we move our eyes from the Asia Cup in cricket for a bit and appreciate the excellence of the Indian Women's hockey team.
They continued their fine form as they concluded their South Africa tour on a positive note with their second consecutive win over Scotland. The women who are going to represent India in the Olympics after 36 years posted yet another convincing win after a brace by Poonam Rani saw them register a 3-0 win over their opponents.
The tour started with India defeating South Africa 1-0 in Cape Town, followed by crushing the junior South African team 3-1 and then 8-0 in two back-to-back matches. They carried the momentum by thrashing Scotland 5-0 in their previous encounter.
This commendable performance by the Indian eves is indeed a powerful statement that the team has the potential to go places. India will be competing in Rio for the second time after the 1980 Olympics.
Poonam Rani on the scoresheet again
The first quarter saw both the teams going on the attack on each other's business side of the field. The Indians were high on spirits at Stellenbosch after defeating South Africa in the first game and losing to Germany in a hard-fought encounter by a scoreline of 2-3.
The second quarter started with India maintaining good ball possession and keeping Scotland's defense busy. Poonam Rani scored the first goal, hitting the ball into the nets brilliantly and giving no chance to the opponent’s goalkeeper to react. India continued to put pressure and scored their second goal through Vandana Kataria.
In the third quarter, they took over from where they left and played cautiously without conceding a goal. They went into the final quarter, leaving the score untouched at 2-0. The fourth quarter brought good news for the Indians yet again as the third goal was added to the goal tally by Poonam Rani.
The series started with India trying to understand playing conditions abroad and finished with India doing a 'Chak De'.
