Kakamigahara (Japan): India’s women made a sensational start to their Asian Games hockey campaign, thrashing Uzbekistan 19-0 in a record-breaking margin of victory. Led by Salima Tete, the Indian team dominated from start to finish, with Deepika Sehrawat scoring eight goals. It was the best-ever individual performance by an Indian women’s player in a single Asian Games match.
The Pool B encounter was expected to be one-sided, and it turned out exactly that way. India maintained relentless pressure throughout the match, leaving Uzbekistan’s defenders with no answers to their sustained attacking play.
Deepika Scores Eight Goals
Twenty-two-year-old drag-flick specialist Deepika was in devastating form, scoring a goal blitz. She found the net in the 8th, 22nd, 25th, 33rd, 36th, 38th, 41st and 54th minutes.
Deepika has been in excellent form since returning from injury, and her eight-goal performance underlined her impressive comeback.
Midfielder Ishika Chaudhary scored three goals, while Navneet Kaur and Lal Thanglowni scored two each. Sakshi Rana, Lalremsiami, Baljit Kaur and Neha contributed one goal apiece.
India will next face Indonesia on Monday.
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