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Rani Rampal scored a goal in regulation time, and from her two penalty shots to help India win their nerve-wrecking shootout in the bronze medal-playoff against England.
Even the ardent supporters of the Indian junior women hockey team wouldn’t have imagined a podium finish after their 1-6 walloping at the hands of Australia in their tournament opener.
It almost seemed like the junior team would do an encore of what the senior team did in Rotterdam, losing consistently by heavy margins without looking competitive.
But, the Sushila Chanu-led team defied all odds by reaching the quarterfinal and subsequently, the semifinal for the first-time ever, before capping off their stellar run with a superb bronze medal effort, pipping England 3-2 in a penalty shootout, after both teams were locked 1-1 in regulation time.
In the penalty shootout, Anna Toman missed the first stroke for England before Rani Rampal gave India a 1-0 advantage. England’s Jo Leight bungled from the spot, while Navjot Kaur failed to double the lead for India by bungling her penalty shot.
Shona McCalin muffed up another opportunity for England, their third in a row, while Vandana Katariya continued the sequence of missed shots for India.
England missed their fourth shot on the trot, while Navneet Kaur slipped up for India as the Blueskirts led 1-0 after four strokes each by both sides.
England finally got it right through Emily Defroand before Poonam Rani missed it for India.
Rani Rampal once again gave India the advantage before Emily Defroand neutralized things.
Poonam Rani missed her second stroke while Shona McCalin missed the target as well for the second time in the shootout.
It was left to Navneet Kaur, who missed the fourth stroke earlier to pull of the match-clincher to trigger celebrations in the Indian camp.
Earlier, Indian eves started on a positive note taking the lead through talented Rani Rampal in the 13th minute- it was her fourth goal of the tournament.
England tried hard to equalized but India held on for the 1-0 lead at half-time.
England restored parity midway through the second half as Anna Toman rattled the Indian cage in the 55th minute.
Both teams went for broke in pursuit of the equaliser but the winning goal eluded them in regulation time and the outcome of the match had to be decided through penalty shootout.
Earlier, India edged out New Zealand 2-0 before larruping Russia 10-1 in the league phase.
The Blueskirts then humbled Spain 4-2 in the quarterfinal, before losing 0-3 to defending champions Netherlands in the semifinals.
