Asia Cup: Title out of reach, but podium's not

Muscat, January 27

Their title hopes already over, India would be eyeing at least a podium finish when they take on China in the third-fourth place playoff match of the women’s Asia Cup here today.

Lack of match practice cost India dearly as they produced inconsistent performances in crucial matches to crash out of the title race.

After thrashing the lowly Malaysia 9-0 in their opener, India suffered a 0-2 defeat to Asian Games champions Japan before thrashing Singapore 9-1 to qualify for the semifinals. But in the semifinals, sloppy defending and poor penalty corner conversions put paid to India’s hopes as they were beaten 3-2 by South Korea, who set up a final clash against Japan on Friday.

However, India hold an edge over China. In their last three outings, India beat China twice — 3-1 in the Asian Champions Trophy in 2018 and 1-0 in the last Asian Games. —