In a Nutshell
India defeated Thailand 11-0 to begin their Women's Hockey Asia Cup 2025 campaign. The team displayed remarkable tactical skill and a variety of goal-scoring from open play and penalty corners despite the absence of important players.
This commanding performance highlights India’s strong potential as a top contender.
India started their Women's Hockey Asia Cup 2025 campaign impressively, crushing Thailand 11-0 in their Pool B opener at Hangzhou on Thursday. The overpowering display was a clear indication of India's ambition in the tournament. Even without Deepika, the drag-flick specialist, and Savita Punia, the experienced goalkeeper. India's neat goal-scoring and tactical astuteness more than compensated for those voids and made them ideal contenders
Penalty Corners and Open-Play Brilliance Power India's Win
India did not hold back and was very clever with their approach. That is how they managed to score their first four goals from open play before even having a single penalty corner in the first half. It was a side that played with such freedom and that had such a tactical understanding that it really did look like coach Harendra Singh’s team knew what they were doing.
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When penalty corners were at last awarded, India used them to maximum effect with variation and creativity. Just before halftime, Udita Duhan made a short corner into a goal. Beauty Dungdung and Suman Devi Thoudam were helping with new ideas and making the opponent less certain. Late in the third quarter, for instance, was one of the plays that went really well. A rotated injection followed by a series of passes ended with Sharmila Devi scoring from the far post.
Image Source: Hockey IndiaThe goal scorers were not limited to set-piece conversions. Scoring was spread among the players: Mumtaz Khan, Sangita Kumari, Navneet Kaur, Lalremsiami, Udita Duhan, Beauty Dungdung, Suman Devi Thoudam, Sharmila Devi, and Rutaja Dadaso Pisal.
Moreover, besides the scoreline, India’s cleverness in devising set plays without their standard specialists will greatly contribute to their success. The team’s transformation in Deepika’s absence was marked by the utilisation of a versatile roster. Udita, Beauty, Momtaz, and Sangita gave a glimpse of adaptability to cover that gap.
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