India win bronze at Women’s Hockey Asia Cup

The defending champions beat China 2-0 with goals from Sharmila Devi (13) and Gurjit Kaur (19) to end the tournament on a high on Friday.

The Indians left behind the disappointment of their semifinal defeat to Korea and controlled the proceedings in the first two quarters, scoring two goals in the process, to go into half-time with a 2-0 lead against China. They, however, failed to score any more goals in the second half.

Lack of match practice due to the COVID-19 pandemic after finishing a historic fourth at the Tokyo Olympics cost defending champion India dearly as it produced inconsistent performances in crucial matches to crash out of the title race.