India crush Singapore 10-0 to enter semifinals

New Delhi, 12 March 2015: A spirited India defeated Singapore with a huge goal margin of 10-0 and booked its berth in the semi- finals of the ongoing Hero FIH World League Round  2 (Women) today at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

The game was totally dominated by the Indian eves. The game started with two early minute goals coming from the confident Indian side.  Just four minutes into the game, Poonam Rani through a penalty corner conversion swiped the ball into the net and opened the score card for India. Not wasting much time, Navjot Kaur in the sixth minute of the game added another goal to her side by comfortable strike through a field work to double the lead to 2-0. While all the attempts made by Singapore went in vain, India took the scores to 2-0 in the first quarter.

India continued to assert dominance in the second quarter of the game and in the 17th minute Vandana Katariya touched the goal post and notched field goal to take the lead for her team further ahead to 3-0. As the entire game was flooded with goals for India, it was Anupa Barla whose brilliant stick work gave India its fourth goal in the 19th minute of the game. Whereas, India scored two goals each in both the quarters, Singapore was unable to open its score card and the score stood 4-0 in favour of India.

Entering the second half of the game, Singapore displayed a better quality of game as the girls were in dire need of opening the score-card but India was in no mood to give away the goals  to them. Deepika created some space for herself and successfully converted the penalty corner in the 32nd minute advancing the lead to 5-0. This time it was Rani Rani who scored a tremendous field goal for India in the 35th minute of the game. The third quarter ended with a score of 6-0 with India leading from the front.

As the Indian eves were thumping goals at regular intervals, Singapore was seen in constant pressure of opening their score card. The fourth and the last quarter of the game started with an early goal in the 48th minute where Vandana Katariya surged ahead and made a clear finish resulting in a field goal. Jaspreet Kaur made no mistake and converted a penalty corner in the 51st minute of the game and escalating the scores to 8-0. 

Very satisfied with a huge score, Indian team displayed good coordination trying to close the gaps by holding on to the possession of the ball. With just four minutes into the game to end,  Vandana Katariya scored two back to back goals for India in the 56th and 57th minute of the game coming in from a field effort. While the Indian defence did not allow Singapore to score even a single goal, India emerged as the victors of the game and ramp it over Singapore with a 10-0 score on boards.

Excited on the entry to the semi- finals, Hockey India's High Performance Director, Roelant Oltmans said, "We were confident from the beginning about winning. We tried to defend as good as possible and the girls demonstrated some excellent hockey skills. Every player made great contribution and this led to the score of 10-0. I am really proud of the girls as they are taking women hockey to a higher level."

Post winning the match, Vandana Katariya, Player of the Match said, "It was team effort that helped me score three goals and I need to work even harder as I missed many opportunities in the match. Pressure will be more in the semi- finals as the teams are getting tougher now, but we will try and deliver even better results ahead."

HI Press release