Indian women's hockey team beat Japan 3-1 to win FIH Series Finals

Indian womens hockey team created history by beating Japan 31 in the FIH series final a day after qualifying for the FIH Olympic Qualifiers The team was jubiliant and wild celebration ensuedSkipper Rani Rampal the best player of the tournament netted a goal in the third minute but India conceded an equalizer in the 11th minute as Japans Kanon Mori scored However a brace from Gurjit Kaur the top scorer of the tournament scored in the 45th and 60th minutes took India to an emphatic victoryThis is how the team celebrated in the team bus after winning the trophyWhy only cricket u00f0u009fu008fu008f Indian hockey at its BestCongratulations to our womens hockey team for winning the FIH Series Finals hockey tournamentGirls enjoying their moments of glory pictwittercomyJfA6xXq1Zmdash Vivek Shetty vivekshettym June 23 2019In the first quarter skipper Rani stepped up to score for India in the first penalty corner Rani struck the ball along the ground and beat the Japanese goalkeeper Akio Tanaka on her right side to give India a 10 advantageIndias dominance saw them win their second penalty corner in the ninth minute but the team gave a foul away in the execution Japan were unable to create opportunities for themselves as they could only manage two circle entries in the entire first 15 minutes But when they did enter the circle on the second occasion the Japanese forwardline combined to score an equalizer from their very first shot at goalIt was Japans Sakurako Omoto who picked up the ball at the 25yard line and played in a pass on the right flank to Yuri Nagai on the baseline who then played a pass across goal which was successfully deflected by Kanon Mori onto the Indian goalkeeper Savita who could not react in time and conceded the goalIn the second quarter India maintained possession which saw forward Vandana Katariya miss a glorious opportunity in the 18th minute as she picked up a loose clearance from just outside the striking circle and ran into it to take a strike but her shot went just wide of the post across goal Japan also started to get into their rhythm and tried to create chances by using the flanks but Indias defensive cohesion made sure that they did not concede againWorld number nine India controlled possession well as they made five circle entries compared to Japans zero The likes of Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam and Lilima Minz stepped up to help break Japanese attacks and rotated the ball comfortably to create opportunities for India However a better performance by the Japanese defense in the final few minutes of the second quarter meant that both the teams went into the halftime break level at 11India stepped up their attacking flair again in the opening minutes of the third quarter winning two penalty corners but could not convert them into a second goal Both the teams tried to look to take the important lead with Japan making two circle entries and getting two shots away while India made eight entries and took five shotsHowever the last of those five shots was the one which gave India the lead as constant pressure on the Japanese in the latter stages of the third quarter saw India win another penalty corner through captain Rani It was dragflicker Gurjit who was Indias saviour yet again as she dispatched the ball into the top left corner of the Japanese goal to give her side a 21 lead in the 45th minuteIndia managed the fourth quarter well as they maintained possession in the initial minutes with Navneet Kaur and Rani having opportunities to seal the victory with a third goal but their efforts were kept out by the Japanese goalkeeper But on the other side of the field India defended well from penalty corners to avoid conceding an equalizerWith just five minutes remaining in the match Japan decided to take off their goalkeeper for an extra outfield player and that helped them in creating some opportunities however it also worked against them in the last minute of the match as Gurjit scored her second goal of the match through a penalty corner to make it 31 and wrap up the victory for IndiaIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first ones to wish the Indian womens hockey team on the win here what he tweetedExceptional game excellent outcome Congratulations to our team for winning the Womens FIH Series Finalshockey tournament This stupendous victory will further popularise hockey and also inspire many young girls to excel in the sportmdash Narendra Modi narendramodi June 23 2019Other bigwigs from the world of sports entertainment and politics took to Twitter to celebrate the big win by the womens teamDelhi Indian Womenrsquos Hockey team returns to India after winning the FIH Womens Series Finals Hiroshima 2019 after defeating host Japan 31 in the Final on June 23 pictwittercomrHu7780jwemdash ANI ANI June 25 2019Welcome Home Nula Lalremsiami proud of you 42 caps 15 goals for Senior Womens Indian hockey team And hats off to sports associations for welcoming her homecoming pictwittercomKJjVJz8dFPmdash Lal Thanhawla LThanhawla June 25 2019Jai Hou00f0u009fu0091u008du00f0u009fu0091u008fu00f0u009fu0087u00aeu00f0u009fu0087u00b3Indian womenrsquos hockey team reaches final of FIH Series Finals httpstcoGJkTsokn0Fmdash Anupam Kher AnupamPKher June 22 2019Many many congratulations to the TheHockeyIndia womens team on winning the international hockey Federation Series Finals The nation is proud of youtoday you made all Indian proudkeep it up championsu00f0u009fu0092u0083 pictwittercomkctFOgWsAYmdash Nidhi Patel NidhiPa43357235 June 25 2019The Indian Womens Hockey Team arrived in New Delhi to a rousing welcome on 25th June 2019 after finishing first in the FIH Womens Series Finals Hiroshima 2019 Read more httpstcoUjxrbaUgARIndiaKaGame RoadToTokyo FIHSeriesFinals pictwittercom2E09TA6F6hmdash Hockey India TheHockeyIndia June 25 201919 year old striker Lalremsiami stayed back with the Indian womens hockey team to play the semifinals of the FIH Womens Series despite losing her father a day before the big game The team went on to win the u00f0u009fu008fu0086 We salute her extraordinary determination u00f0u009fu0091u008fu00f0u009fu008fu00bbStrongerTogether pictwittercomFDLuQG9CE6mdash NorthEast United FC NEUtdFC June 25 2019Theres no alternate for the experience and these two stalwarts of the Indian Womens Hockey Team have proved it right by winning it big on a grand stageIndiaKaGame FIHSeriesFinals RoadToTokyo pictwittercom66pV4U82Ojmdash Hockey India TheHockeyIndia June 24 2019Big congratulations 2 our INDIAN u00f0u009fu0087u00aeu00f0u009fu0087u00b3 Women hockey u00f0u009fu008fu0091 team on winning the FIH Womenrsquos Series finals defeating Japan 31 u00f0u009fu0091u008du00f0u009fu0091u008fu00f0u009fu008fu0086 More Girl Power u00f0u009fu0092u00aa pictwittercomexY7WPhhIKmdash MANOJ TIWARY tiwarymanoj June 24 2019Congratulations to the Indian Womens team for winning the Womens FIH Series Finalshockey tournament You all are an inspiration for young women everywhere TheHockeyIndia FIH_Hockey FIHSeriesFinals RoadToTokyomdash CaptAmarinder Singh capt_amarinder June 24 2019congratulations INDIAN Women hockey team u00f0u009fu0087u00aeu00f0u009fu0087u00b3 u00f0u009fu008fu0091 on winning the FIH Womenrsquos Series finals against Japan 31 u00f0u009fu008fu0086u00f0u009fu0091u008fu00f0u009fu0091u008fu00f0u009fu0091u008f u00f0u009fu0087u00aeu00f0u009fu0087u00b3 imranirampal u00f0u009fu0098u008au00e2u009cu008cu00efu00b8u008f pictwittercom0uNYItLdYImdash Rahul Sharma ImRahulSharma3 June 24 2019Hearty congratulations to Indian Womenrsquos Hockey Team for clinching FIH Series Finals by outplaying Japan 31 at Hiroshima IndiaKaGame FIHSeriesFinals RoadToTokyo INDvJPN TheHockeyIndia pictwittercomspRqiCBCmmmdash VicePresidentOfIndia VPSecretariat June 24 2019The talented Indian Womens Hockey team displayed superior gameplay and showed nerves of steel to keep up the pressure and beat Japan 31 in the FIH Series FinalsI congratulate amp thank them for making India proudWishing you the very best for the Olympics Qualifiers pictwittercomrINfNzNz70mdash Rajyavardhan Rathore Ra_THORe June 24 2019With inputs from PTICatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates