The Indian women’s hockey team suffered a 2-1 defeat to Germany in a shoot-out during the first match of the two-legged tie in the FIH Pro League at the iconic Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha on Saturday (March 12).
Both teams were locked at 1-1 at the end of normal time. Unfortunately, neither team could slip the ball into the goalpost after early goals from Navneet Kaur in the 4th minute and Carlotta Sippel in the fifth minute. This set the tone for what could have been a thrilling contest between the two teams.
India and Germany missed several scoring opportunities throughout the entire match. However, it was Pauline Heinz and Sara Strauss' efforts during the shoot-out, which put the visitors on top by the end of the contest.
Navneet was the only goal scorer for India even in the shoot-out while Sharmila Devi, Neha Goyal, Laremsiami and Monika wasted their chances.
Although the Indian team ended up on the losing side, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam touched a milestone during the match. The 30-year-old half-back, who has been with the team for over a decade completed 200 international caps for India.
Sushila thanked her teammates on the occasion of completing 200 matches for India and said:
"It is truly special for me to complete 200 International Caps at home. It has been a long and very satisfying journey so far. As a team, we have gone through every challenge together as a family. I thank all my teammates, support staff and Hockey India for all their support."
FIH Pro League: Schedule & Match Timings
The Indian women's hockey team will look to regroup before they take on Germany in their second match of a two-legged tie in the FIH Pro League on Sunday.
Match: India vs Germany
Date: March 13, 2022 Timings: 5:00 pm IST
Streaming details:
All FIH Pro League 2022 matches are being telecast live on Star Sports Select 2 and Star Sports Select 2 HD. The matches are also available for live streaming on the Hotstar app.
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