Hockey: India Lifts Women’s Asian Champions Trophy; thrashes Japan 4-0

The Indian women’s hockey team dethroned Japan on November 5 to crown themselves Asian Champions Trophy winners.

The Indian women’s hockey team dethroned Japan on Sunday to crown themselves Asian Champions Trophy winners. The hosts beat Japan 4-0 in the final in Ranchi. India overcame the two-time champions through goals from Sangita Kumari, Neha, Laremsiami and Vandana Katariya.

India won their maiden Asian Champions Trophy title in 2016 in Singapore, while Japan has bagged the crown twice, in 2013 and 2021.

Following their win, the Captain of Indian women’s hockey team, Savita Punia said, “We are feeling very good right now. When we came here we were a bit nervous as Japan is a very good team. Japan played very well too. We played aggressively after halftime.”

In recognition of their exceptional performance, marked by an undefeated streak throughout the tournament and their title victory, Hockey India announced 3 lakh rupees to each player, and 1.50 lakh rupees each for support staff. Jharkhand’s Salima Tete was announced the Player of the Tournament.

https://x.com/ianuragthakur/status/1721409278215598385?s=20

Union Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur congratulated the team for their win and said, “Our women’s team is on fire, and we’re so proud of their achievement!”

Earlier in the day, Asian Games champions China beat South Korea 2-1 to secure the third place. Yi Chen and Tiantian Luo scored for the winners while Sujin An found the target for Korea.