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Savita Punia showed all of her exemplary qualities as her side's captain, starring in India's win over Canada in their FIH World Cup classification match.
Chasing Canada for almost the entire match, the Indian women's hockey team restored 1-1 parity just minutes before the hooter. They later went on to win 3-2 in the shootout.
Salima Tete equalized the scoreline while Navneet Kaur, Sonika and Neha Goyal put it past the Canadian goalkeeper during the shootouts.
True to her moniker of Save-ita, Savita Punia made six gravity-defying saves. Her efforts kept Canada, who were on the brink of victory more than twice during the entire game, from picking up a vital win.
The win was a perfect birthday gift for Savita Punia, who was down and out after India lost narrowly to Spain to put an end to their World Cup title chances.
Read: Indian women's hockey team coach Janneke Schopman paving the path to greater success for her team
Punia trusts her instincts and is difficult to breach, especially in shootouts. She is agile, her reflexes are on cue and her instincts work magic.
"I enjoy shootouts. There will be pressure, but, I have confidence in myself to pull it off," Savita Punia had said earlier.
As the team's captain, she has been their leader, a role model and an expert strategist.
It's worth noting that Navneet Kaur also had a splendid match against Canada. She made daring runs into the opposition's defense and did well to hold on to chances. Her passing and dribbling skills raised eyebrows, but the lack of conviction in the final third did the team in.
Kaur combined well with Neha Goyal and Vandana Katariya. The trio created most of India;s chances in the middle and in the forward line but were unable to convert the daring runs into precise shots into the goal. Canadian goalkeeper Rowan Harris, too, was on cue most of the time to thwart all Indian attacks.
Navneet Kaur was all praise for Savita Punia and lauded her for the saves in front of goal after the match:
'It was a very hard match. Savita was brilliant, she saved a lot of shoot-outs, as well as some good saves in the match," she said.
Penalty corner struggles remain a major concern for India despite Savita Punia's heroics
India's biggest hole in the campaign was their inability to consistently convert penalty corner chances. Gurjit Kaur in particular endured a horrid tournament.
India adapted to a style of playing attacking hockey well. But failing to convert half-chances has proved once again that their playing style alone will not be enough to take the team to where they want to be.
Gurjit and Deep Grace Ekka have formed a lethal set-piece pair. However, their lack of thunderous hits and the former's predictable shots on target are aspects the team must work on.
The team often converted just three or four out of a multitude of chances. It speaks volumes of how much homework they need to do before the Commonwealth Games (CWG 2022), starting later this month in Birmingham.
India were good in patches and when pushed to the wall, they came out stronger. The Indian defense worked like a well-oiled machine, combing attacks from all sides. The center of it all was their skipper, Savita Punia.
Where the Indian team has improved by leaps and bounds is not letting teams take penalty corner chances at will. This comes on the back of some terrific defending of all attacks from the opposition.
India have been guilty of leaking many penalty corner chances in the past and the Savita Punia-led team has come a long way from there.
It is worth noting that the team also sorely felt Rani Rampal's absence. Rampal has the capability to pull out chances from nowhere, convert half chances in a flash and also make attacking moves, laden with surgical precision.
Even if she could have been on the field for only a quarter or two, the Indian hockey story at the FIH World Cup could have taken a different script.
Just one more match remains for India at the ongoing World Cup. The focus will now shift to CWG 2022 and Savita Punia, along with Janneke Schopman and the rest of the think-tank, have a lot of homework to do.
