The Indian hockey team won the Women's Junior Asia Cup 2023 title on Sunday at Kakamigahara, Japan, with a 2-1 victory over the Republic of Korea. This is India's first Women's Junior Asia Cup victory. India have previously qualified for the FIH Women's Junior World Cup in Chile in 2023. Following their win, Hockey India announced a 2 lakh cash prize for each player and 1 lakh each for the support staff.
Annu (21') and Neelam (40') scored for India, while Seoyeon Park (24') scored the lone goal for Korea. India began the game on an offensive note, winning a penalty corner in the first minute but failing to capitalise. Korea, on the other hand, resorted to counter-attacks and gained control of the situation. Despite both teams playing aggressive hockey, the first quarter concluded without a goal.
Korea maintained their strategy in the second quarter, putting India on the defensive. However, Annu converted a penalty stroke to give India the lead. India's lead, however, was short-lived as Seoyeon Park scored a field goal for Korea. There were no additional goals in the second quarter, and both sides headed into the halftime break tied at 1-1.
India prevail over Korea in a seesaw battle:
The second half of the match began with Korea keeping control while the Indian team shifted to counter-attacks, which paid off when Neelam converted a penalty corner to put India ahead as the third quarter finished with India leading 2-1. To defend their lead, India changed their focus to defence and controlled the tempo of the game by maintaining possession in the fourth quarter. In their eagerness to find an equaliser, Korea made forced blunders and inaccurate passes.
Finally, India held firm and stuck to their plan to win the title match 2-1. Earlier this month, India also won the Men’s Junior Asia Cup hockey tournament after beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the final.
