Striker Annu led the charge by scoring six- goals as India decimated Uzbekistan 22-0 in their opening match of the Junior Women’s hockey Asia Cup in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, Japan on Sunday.
The other goal getters for the winners were Mumtaz Khan, Deepika (4 each) Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke, Sunelita Toppo , Deepika Soreng (two each), Manju Chorsiya and Neelam ( one each)
In what turned out to be a no contest, India dominated the turf from the very start and surged ahead in the third minute through Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke who converted a penalty corner, ,three minutes later Mumtaz doubled the and then Annu added to the team’s tally by netting a goal making it 3-0 for the winners.
The second quarter was no different as India continued to dominate the game by continuously attacking and it helped them extend their lead by a big margin as Sunelita Toppo (17’, 17’), Manju Chorsiya (26’), Deepika Soreng (18’, 25’), Anu (29’, 30’) netted goals to help their team go into the half-time break with a 10-0 lead.
Indians showed no signs of slowing down in the third quarter and continued to dominate the proceedings with Deepika (32’) scoring off a penalty corner, while Annu (38’, 43’) added two more goals to help to take 13-0 lead. Mumtaz Khan (44’) and Deepika (44’) scored their respective second goals of the match, making it 15-0 by the end of the third quarter.
The winners pumped in seven more goals in the last quarter through Deepika (46’), Mumtaz Khan (47’), and Neelam (47’) Annu (51’) Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke (56’) Deepika and Mumtaz Khan (60’) to complete the rout ..
India will play key Team will next play against Malaysia in their second Pool game on 5th June.