Sunita Lakra and Co will look to defend their title against hosts South Korea at the fifth Women’s Asian Champions Trophy final in Donghae City on Sunday.
They have been unbeaten so far in the tournament, even beating the higher-ranked Chinese 3-1 in their second match. But the match against South Korea – a dead rubber – on Saturday was their toughest. For, the Korean defence is like Fort Knox and, if Saturday’s game is anything to go by, the Indians, without the services of Rani Rampal, will have to work harder than they did against other teams to score.
Coach Sjoerd Marijne, before Saturday’s game, had said, “It is not always easy to play against a team who play with 11 players in their circle. To make the game favorable to us, we need to score more PCs and ensure we don’t miss easy goals.”
On Saturday, even if it was an inconsequential match, the Koreans faltered not even once to give away an easy chance. Even the penalty corners didn’t go India’s way until the fourth quarter when young Lalremsiami scored off a deflection to equalise the score and keep her team’s unbeaten streak alive.
But Marijne had also indicated before the match that his team wouldn’t play to its maximum potential. His team was considerably slower in Saturday’s game as compared to their first three matches in the tournament.
Another area that Marijne would want his team to rectify is the vulnerability in defence during intense counter-attacks. Even in the first three wins, the women in blue slipped up in their defence, allowing the opposition to penetrate the circle after losing the ball. But this seems to be a necessary gamble to create more chances.
“The Koreans like to play high press. It will be important for us to not let that pressure affect our game and we need to ensure we don’t make mistakes in our own half. Besides this, we will need to move the ball fast to create space,” Marijne had said.
Victory on Sunday without some of their senior players and regular skipper will boost the morale of this team ahead of the World Cup and the all-important Asian Games.
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