India went down to China 1-4 in their second match of the Super 4s pool of the women's hockey Asia Cup on Thursday (September 11). Despite the defeat, the Indians remain in the hunt for a place in the final with a game in hand against Japan.Zou Meirong handed the Chinese an early advantage with a goal from open play. A disallowed penalty corner goal with the score at 0-1 in the second quarter did not help India's cause before China doubled their lead immediately after the long breather.A spectucular effort from Mumtaz Khan reduced the deficit for the Indians in the third quarter. Unrelenting pressure from the Chinese enabled the home side to slot in a couple of more goals in the final quarter and book a spot in the final of the women's hockey Asia Cup.China opened the scoring in the 4th minute through Zou Meirong, who tapped the ball into the back of the net after Bichu Devi had scrambled to stop the initial shot on target.Neha Goyal helped the Indians earn a penalty corner in the 26th minute. India had a goal disallowed after the slap shot from the top of the circle beat the goalkeeper but the umpire declared that her whistle had already been sounded much to the dismay of Harendra Singh's chargers.Chen Yang had ample time and space to ease a shot past Bichu Devi in the 31st minute after sneaking into the circle even as the Indian deep defence were busy trying to intercept the angled cross.A stunning effort from Mumtaz Khan who picked up a pass in the circle from Lalremsiami before taking a powerful reverse in the 38th minute helped the Indians pull one back.Sunelita Toppo had the ball in the Chinese net in the 38th minute but the whistle had gone before the ball made its way into the goal.A contentious penalty corner awarded for what was deemed to have been an infrigement outside the circle by Sunelita then resulted in the third goal for the Chinese in the 47th minute with Tan Jinzhuang being the goalscorer.Li Hong helped Zou Meirong score in the 56th minute which effectively dug the final nail in the coffin for the Indians.India's women's hockey Asia Cup journey over the yearsIndia last won the women's hockey Asia Cup in 2017 - Source: GettyThe Indians were on the podium for the first time in the 1993 edition of women's hockey Asia Cup, beating Japan 1-0 to win the bronze medal.At home in Delhi, the Indians lost the final to South Korea 2-3 in 1999 before winning the tournament for the first time in the subsequent edition.The Asia Cup returned to the Indian capital in 2004 with the hosts beating Japan 1-0 in the big final.India won silver in the 2009 Bangkok Asia Cup after losing 3-5 to China in the final but tilted the scales by defeating the Chinese girls in a shootout in the 2017 women's hockey Asia Cup final.