Guwahati: The home fans sitting at the Moullana MD. Tayabullah Hockey Stadium, Bhetapara in Guwahati was treated to an attacking master class by the Indian Eves with a 10-0 win over Sri Lanka to win Gold at the 12th South Asian Games.
India started the first half with a flurry of attacks and the first goal came from the stick of Rani in the second minute of the half. Rani didn’t waste time in capitalizing on the momentum and scored another goal within 2 minutes of the first goal taking the score to 2-0 with 4 minutes on the clock. India looked in immense attacking form as Preeti Dubey scored another field goal in the 8th minute taking the score to 3-0. The Indian forwards pressed hard in order to extend the lead with Soundarya Yendala adding the fourth goal to the score tally. In the 29th minute Punam Barla converted a penalty corner to add the fifth goal. The next two minutes saw Deepika also getting on the score sheet. The first half ended with the score at 6-0 in favour of the Indians.
The second half only increased the problems for the Sri Lankan team when the Captain Ritu Rani got on the score sheet with a penalty corner conversion in the 47th minute. Rani was unstoppable on the night and she scored her hat –trick with a 56th minute field goal. The score stood at 8-0 post Rani’s goal. India kept up the pressure and in the 64th minute another opportunity was created and Soundarya Yendala took full advantage by converting the penalty corner to score her brace and take the score to 9-0. India kept on knocking the door and another penalty corner opportunity was created and converted successfully by Jaspreet Kaur this time to make it 10-0. The match finally ended with the score at 10-0.
Rani and Soundarya Yendala were the highest scorers with three and two goals respectively.
