Asian Games hockey, as it happened: Gurjit scores hat-trick in India’s 8-0 thrashing of Indonesia

Wrapping up

India came, saw, conquered. They were expected to win this easily and that, precisely, is what they did. For the hosts, this was a tough debut at the Asian Games, considering that they were playing on home turf. They defended well in phases and their goalkeeper Selly Amalia Florentina deserves a lot of credit for keeping the score 8-0 (India would have scored more if not for her). Coach Sjoerd Marijne would be pleased with this performance. There were a few penalty corners that the Indians didn’t execute well but they’d look to improve as the tournament progresses.

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Final quarter, India 8-0 Indonesia (1 minutes to go): Less than one minute to go and probably India’s last PC. Rani Rampal hits to the left of the keeper. But an Indonesian defender blocks the ball just near the net.

Final quarter, India 8-0 Indonesia (2 minutes to go): Indonesia look to attack more. But it’s too late now. The ball doesn’t cross the half-line though. India get back the ball.

Final quarter, India 8-0 Indonesia (4 minutes to go): GOAL! Another penalty corner for the women in blue and Gurjit Kaur shows why she’s one of the best drag-flickers in the world. Hits one to the top centre of the net. Catches the Indonesian goalie off guard.

Final quarter, India 7-0 Indonesia (4 minutes to go): The hosts are struggling to get the ball from the Indians. The women in blue have dominated possession in this match.

Final quarter, India 7-0 Indonesia (7 minutes to go): India’s on the hunt for their eighth goal. Indonesian defence look tired. They are perhaps demoralised also by the Indians’ goal-barrage.

Final quarter, India 7-0 Indonesia (9 minutes to go): GOAL! Navneet slots in India’s seventh goal. Doesn’t really matter now. The match has gone out of Indonesia’s reach. Can India get to 10 goals?

Final quarter, India 6-0 Indonesia (12 minutes to go): 12th PENALTY CORNER FOR INDIA! They almost score. Almost. But as the ball rolled into the net, a couple of inches away, the Indoesian keeper cleared it away.

India miss two more PCs.

End of third quarter, India 6-0 Indonesia: Indonesia have done exceedingly well to deny India a goal in the third quarter. A few penalty corners India didn’t execute as well as they would have expected to. But the Indonesian goalie Selly Amalia Florentina deserves a lot of credit for not letting the Indians scoring over 10 goals.

Third quarter, India 6-0 Indonesia (3 minutes to go): PENALTY CORNER (AGAIN) Gurjit takes it. Good hit but the hosts’ goalie is up to the task. She keeps it away. India are seeking their first goal of this quarter.

Third quarter, India 6-0 Indonesia (5 minutes to go): The Indonesian attackers, for the first time in two quarters, get to the Indian circle. But no real threat. The Indians intercept the ball in no time. And the ball’s back in the hosts’ circle.

Third quarter, India 6-0 Indonesia (5 minutes to go): Indonesians have done well to deny the Indians a goal in this quarter. But can they keep a clean sheet in this phase?

Third quarter, India 6-0 Indonesia (8 minutes to go): PENALTY CORNER! Gurjit hits, straight to the body of the Indonesian defender. Free hit for Indonesia.

Third quarter, India 6-0 Indonesia (8 minutes to go): PENALTY CORNER! The skipper Rani Rampal takes it. But excellent work by the keeper Selly Amalia Florentina. She blocked Rani’s hit and when Vandana tried to score off the rebound, she quickly got back into position and cleared the ball away.

Third quarter, India 6-0 Indonesia (11 minutes to go): Another chance for India to get their seventh goal. Monika came close to put the ball into the net and add to Indonesia’s misery. But the goalie put the body on the line and kept the ball out. Some reprieve for the hosts.

Third quarter, India 6-0 Indonesia (13 minutes to go): PENALTY CORNER! Lilima injects, Gurjit strikes. But the ball is kept out by the Indonesian goalkeeper.

HOOTER! End of second quarter, India 6-0 Indonesia: As expected, the highest ranked team has been all over the 64th ranked Indonesia. The Indians took a while to start scoring. But once they scored the first one, the rest have followed in alarming intervals. The Indonesians defended well in the first quarter. But they couldn’t stop the Indians in the second. Also, they need to figure out a way to get the ball to the Indian circle and put them under a bit of pressure. So far, India’s had it too easy.

Second quarter, India 6-0 Indonesia (1 minutes to go): Not once have the Indonesians penetrated the Indian circle in the second quarter. India are dominating the hosts.

Second quarter, India 6-0 Indonesia (3 minutes to go): PENALTY CORNER! GOAL! Deep Ekka Grace (and not Gurjit Kaur) takes the Penalty Corner. The goalkeeper blocks. But the deflection is slotted into the net by Vandana Katariya, who scores her second goal.

Second quarter, India 5-0 Indonesia 5 minutes to go): GOAL AGAIN! India’s doing this easy. Navneet evades the Indonesian defence and passes the ball to young Lalremsiami, who just deflects the ball into the hosts’ net.

Second quarter, India 4-0 Indonesia (8 minutes to go): PENALTY CORNER AGAIN! GOAL! Gurjit’s second goal of the night. India convert their second of the six penalty corners. Gurjit, this time, flicks the ball in the air to the goalkeeper’s right and into the net.

Second quarter, India 3-0 Indonesia (9 minutes to go): PENALTY CORNER! But the Indonesian goalie saves Gurjit Kaur’s mighty strike this time. It’s still 3-0 for India.

Second quarter, India 3-0 Indonesia (11 minutes to go): Indonesia are struggling to get the ball to the Indian half, let alone the Indian circle. India are looking hungry to score their fourth. More goals will demoralise the hosts’ defence, which has looked okay so far.

Second quarter, India 3-0 Indonesia (13 minutes to go): PENALTY CORNER FOR INDIA! AND THEY SCORE THEIR THIRD GOAL! The Indonesian goalkeeper had no chance of stopping Gurjit’s rocketing strike to the low right corner. India are all over the hosts.

End of first quarter, India 2-0 Indonesia: India will be happy with the two-goal lead. Indonesia threw all their players to the defence line. Of course, they are the underdogs in this match. But they must look to attack in order to have any chance in this game. Else, Rani and co will be all over them.

First quarter, India 2-0 Indonesia (2 minutes to go): GOAL! Vandana scores India’s second goal. Vandana and Navjot Kaur plays an excellent one-two to breach the Indonesian defence and double the lead.

First quarter, India 1-0 Indonesia (3 minutes to go): The Indonesian team has been parking the bus so far. All of the hosts’ 10 players are in the defence.

First quarter, India 1-0 Indonesia (4 minutes to go): The ball is mostly played in the Indonesian circle. But the hosts’ defence has been working well to deny the Indians a score of opportunities so far.

First quarter, India 1-0 Indonesia (5 minutes to go): This is the first time Indonesia’s playing the Asian Games courtesy of them hosting the quadrennial event.

First quarter, India 1-0 Indonesia: GOAL! Udita scores India’s first goal. Namita had taken the first hit after the Indians breached the Indonesian defence. The goalkeeper deflected it. But Udita caught it and deflected the ball to the right corner.

6:30 pm Hello and welcome to the hockey opener of the Asian Games. The women in blue take on hosts Indonesia. Going by the rankings (India:9, Indonesia: 64), should be an easy win for favourites India. But this is Indonesia’s den and they’ll be inspired to put on a good show in front of their home crowd. Rani Rampal and company’s last match was the World Cup quarter-final, in which they went down in a thrilling shootout. They are here to win this tournament and will want to let the other teams know that they’re the team to beat.