Murcia: The Indian women’s hockey team drew 1-1 with hosts Spain in an intense second match of their tour here. Gurjit Kaur (43′) scored her second goal of the tournament while Maria Tost (49′) scored for Spain. After going down 2-3 to Spain in their opening match on Saturday, the Indian team put up a spirited performance in a high-voltage second encounter here.
While the first quarter ended in a stalemate, the second quarter saw India make a breakthrough with their first penalty corner of the match. The penalty corner was re-taken but well-saved by the Spanish goalkeeper. The score continued to be 0-0 at half-time but Spain created a penalty corner opportunity soon into the third quarter. The Indian goalkeeper made an impressive save to deny the hosts.
In the following minutes, India increased their tempo that resulted in yet another penalty corner which was brilliantly struck by dragflicker Gurjit in the 43rd minute. The 1-0 lead against the 2018 Women’s World Cup bronze medal winners didn’t last too long as a defensive lapse by India gave way to Spain scoring a beautiful field goal through Maria in the 49th minute to level the scores 1-1.
The final quarter remained intense until the hooter with both teams taking their game a notch above and pushing for a winning goal but neither succeeded with the match ending in a draw. On Tuesday, India will play their third match against Spain.
