Gurjit Kaur slams in four goals in a lop-sided encounter
Gurjit Kaur slammed four goals as India thrashed lowly Fiji 11-0 to storm into the semifinals of the FIH Women’s Series Finals here on Tuesday.
Gurjit struck in the 15th, 19th, 21st and 22nd minutes, while Monika (11th, 33rd) scored a brace for India in a lop-sided Pool A match.
Lalremsiami (4th), Rani (10th), Vandana Katariya (12th), Lilima Minz (51st) and Navneet Kaur (57th) were also among the scorers.
India dominated its lowly ranked opponents throughout, allowing Fiji to only have one circle entry, whilst making 74 entries into the opposition’s striking area.
Early lead
The first quarter was dominated by India which saw it take the lead in the fourth minute when Lalremsiami’s cross-field ball was deflected by a Fiji defender into the back of the net. Captain Rani scored India’s second in the 10th minute from a penalty corner. In the next minute Monika made the scoreline 3-0 from Neha Goyal’s assist.
Forward Vandana Katariya scored her second goal of the competition when she struck in the 12th minute.
Gurjit then scored her first of four goals by converting a penalty corner in the last minute of the first quarter to hand India a 5-0 advantage.
In the 19th minute, Gurjit scored from another penalty corner by slotting home to the left bottom side of Fiji goal to make it 6-0.
Two minutes later, Gurjit completed her hat-trick when she scored from a rebound with a reverse stick shot after her drag-flick was blocked by a defender.
Gurjit struck again in the 22nd minute from another penalty corner. Midfielder Monika scored India’s ninth goal of the match, deflecting in Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam’s shot from just outside the circle in the 33rd minute.
Lilima then joined the party with reverse stick shot in the 51st minute. Six minutes later, Navneet rounded off the tally for India.
Source:thehindu.com/sport/hockey/
