Asia Cup 2022: India thrash Malaysia 9-0 in opening encounter

Defending champions India kickstarted their 2022 Asia Cup campaign with an emphatic win against Malaysia on January 21 (Friday). India thrashed Malaysia with a 9-0 scoreline at the prestigious hockey tournament.

The Women in Blue smashed four goals in the first two quarters. They came back to punish their opponents with five more goals in the next two quarters to bag an easy win.

The first goal came through a smart assist by Neha Goyal. Experienced forward Vandana Katariya struck a fine goal, swaying the ball from in-between Navneet Kaur and Sharmila Devi in the eighth minute.

The Indians quickly stepped up to secure their first penalty corner, but could not capitalize on the opportunity. The defending champions earned two more penalty corners in no time. Vice-captain Deep Grace Ekka converted the second PC into a goal in the tenth minute.

Navneet Kaur then struck a fierce reverse sweep from the top of the circle to hand India a commanding 3-0 lead towards the end of the first quarter.

India continued to dominate the proceedings with better ball possession and created potential scoring opportunities. The team's forward line pushed for goals as their defence stood strong during the game.

Just a few minutes into the second quarter, it was Navneet who pocketed her second goal of the day, giving India a 4-0 lead by half-time.

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The Malaysians had no chance of a resurgence during the match. Vandana struck again in the 34th minute, taking India's lead to a formidable 5-0 before youngster Lalremsiami pounded another goal for India to give them a 6-0 edge in the game.

Monika soon registered her name on the scoresheet to extend India’s lead to a 7-0 in the 40th minute while the Indians continued their onslaught with Sharmila Devi.

Sharmila smashed two back-to-back goals (46', 59') for the team. The Indians finished the match with a solid 9-0 victory against Malaysia with five minutes left for the final whistle.

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