Women’s hockey: India blow away Spain to win title

Barcelona, July 30

The Indian women’s hockey team produced a dominant performance to comfortably beat hosts Spain 3-0 and win the 100th Anniversary Spanish Hockey Federation International Tournament here today.

Vandana Katariya (22nd minute), Monika (48th) and Udita (58th) were the goal-scorers as India remained unbeaten in the tournament.

Riding on the success of Saturday’s match against England, when Lalremsiami’s hat-trick helped them beat England 3-0, table toppers India got off to strong start. But goals eluded the visitors in the first quarter.

The goal midway in the second quarter when Neha Goyal’s shot from the top of the semicircle was saved by goalkeeper Clara Perez. Lalremsiami picked up the rebound and smashed the ball towards goal only for Vandana to find a slight deflection.

India extended the lead when Monika converted a penalty corner. The third goal came after a confident Udita showed patience, coupled with good dribbling skills, to find the back of the net.

Men beat Dutch to finish 3rd

The men’s team beat reigning FIH Pro League champions Netherlands 2-1 to finish third. Captain Harmanpreet Singh (15th) and Dilpreet Singh (50th) scored for India, while Thierry Brinkman (25th) scored for the Dutch side. Interestingly, all goals came from penalty corners today.