FIH Women's World Cup: Vandana Katariya shines but China hold India to 1-1 draw

India's Vandana Katariya scored the all-important goal to help the Indian women's hockey team share the spoils against China 1-1 in their Pool B match at the ongoing FIH Women's World Cup on Tuesday (July 5).

Katariya scored in the third quarter (45'), nullifying Jiali Zheng's 26th-minute strike as both teams remained winless in the ongoing World Cup.

The result means the Savita Punia-led team now need to win their last league match against New Zealand to progress deep into the World Cup with relative ease.

Vandana Katariya had earlier scored India's lone goal in India's 1-1 draw against England in their first match.

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China starts aggressively, India catches up

It was a tense start to the match with China dominating the match by structuring their attack. India soon shook off the nerves as they made some lethal circle penetrations that could have earned them an early lead.

Sharmila Devi and Navneet Kaur worked in tandem to take a shot on goal in the early minutes but Navneet's strike was blocked by a strong Chinese defence.

India failed to convert a penalty corner yet again when Gurjit Kaur's powerful drag-flick was blocked away by Chinese goalkeeper Liu Ping in the second quarter.

China, however, did not falter when their attackers created a sublime variation that resulted in a goal. It was Jiali Zheng who put the ball past India's experienced goalkeeper Savita Punia in the 26th minute.

Meanwhile, India continued to work impressive formations in their attack, earning the team another penalty corner in the 27th minute. However, Monika Malik, who took the shot, couldn't make much of the chance. The second quarter ended with China leading 1-0.

Both teams displayed attacking hockey coupled with speed and patience in their efforts.

Vandana Katariya puts India on level terms

India conceded their first penalty corner in two matches early in the third quarter. Gu Bingfeng took the shot but couldn't make a difference to the scoreline with her effort going wide.

Experienced striker Vandana Katariya was once again the cynosure of India's penalty corner attack. She helped restore parity when she picked up a brilliant deflection off Gurjit Kaur's fiercely-struck drag flick, sending the ball flying past the Chinese custodian.

Vandana Katariya was a live wire on the field and she more often than not reduced the Chinese defenders to size. However, she did not get enough support to make a difference to the scoreboard.

India showed more urgency to convert a goal in the final quarter and they also defended well to keep the pressure on their opponents.

Both teams contested for the ball in the dying minutes of the game. But with seconds ticking away, neither could successfully score despite China calling for a video referral asking for a penalty corner chance.