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Putting on a brilliant display of attacking hockey early in the contest, the Indians outplayed Malaysia by a 6-0 margin in the second match of their Asian Games campaign on Friday, September 29.
With little time to settle in against a marauding Indian attack, the Malaysians could never really recover after conceding four goals in the opening quarter and failed to reduce the margin after eventually managing to tighten up the defence.
Despite being unable to continue the goalfest, the Women in Blue held on admirably adding a couple more to the scoresheet while not allowing the opposition to dictate terms at any stage of their crucial Asian Games encounter.
Monika and Navneet Kaur combined following a scorching run by Udita early in the first quarter. It was Monika who tapped the ball into the net to open the scoring in the 7th minute before earning a penalty corner (PC) in a flash.
Deep Grace Ekka drove a well-directed drag flick past goalkeeper Ab Mashitah to double India's lead a minute later. Deepika fired in a tomahawk while Nisha latched on to the rebound to score a third for Janneke Schopman's chargers.
Neha Goyal found Vaishnavi unmarked at the far post as the Indians earned their fourth goal off a PC before the end of the first quarter.
The Malaysians defended with vigour in the second quarter but failed to stop Sangita Kumari's stunning tomahawk off an assist from Neha Goyal in the 24th minute.
A barren third quarter witnessed the Indians being disallowed a goal. Deepika's reverse hit following a brilliant run was deemed to have been taken from outside the striking circle.
Lalremsiami sounded the boards for the Indians in the 50th minute after taking a tumble before directing one past Nur Zainal who replaced Ab Mashitah in goal.
The Indians will take on South Korea in their next pool match of the Hangzhou Asian Games.
India set for stern South Korean test at Hangzhou Asian Games
South Korea is one of the Asian teams that has consistently challenged India's continental supremacy.
A 1-0 win for South Korea in the finals of the 2018 Asian Champions Trophy dented what was otherwise a rollercoaster ride for the Indians even as coach Sjoerd Marijne returned to the women's camp.
A 3-2 victory for the Korean girls in the semifinals of last year's Asia Cup further underlined the fact that the Indians who very nearly won a historic bronze at the Tokyo Olympics continued to struggle against their Asian rivals.
The Indians did, however, get the better of South Korea by a convincing 4-1 margin in the pool stages of the Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018. The Women in Blue would like nothing better than to replicate this show in Hangzhou on October 1.
