Muristek
Bhubaneswar, March 13
The Indian women's hockey team beat Germany in the shootout to avenge their first leg shootout defeat in their FIH Pro League tie here today.
Just like yesterday, the match ended at 1-1, leading to the shootout. India, who had lost 1-2 in the shootout yesterday, triumphed 3-0 today. Sangita Kumari, Salima Tete and Sonika scored from their attempts in the shootout while Lilly Stoffelsma, Lena Frerichs and Sara Strauss could not score from their three tries as India skipper and goalkeeper Savita did a brilliant job.
Earlier, Felicia Wiedermann gave world No. 5 Germany the lead in the 29th minute through a penalty corner conversion but Nisha equalised in the 40th minute through a field goal.
World No. 9 India secured two points from the match, making it three points from the two-match tie. India climbed one place to the second spot in the FIH Pro League standings with 12 points from six games. India trail Argentina (12 points from four matches) on goal difference, with Netherlands one point behind.
India got three penalty corners in the match but could not utilise any one of them while Germany converted one from the five PCs they earned in the match. Germany, however, failed to convert a penalty stroke as the push hit the post.
Navneet Kaur was named the Player of the Match. "I am very happy, we did very well and worked hard over both matches," Navneet said.
Germany's captain Lisa Nolte felt they were unlucky to lose. "The feeling in this stadium is awesome but we were unlucky to lose the game today. I am proud of my team. We did a great job but we were unlucky not to win today," Nolte said.
India's next matches are against England here on April 2-3. — Agencies