Toppo the difference as women make final

Kakamigahara (Japan), June 10

Sunelita Toppo fired India to a narrow 1-0 win over hosts Japan to enter the final of the Women’s Junior Asia Cup hockey tournament here today.

The win also sealed their berth in the FIH Junior World Cup slated to be held in Chile’s Santiago from November 29 to December 10 this year. The top three teams in the Asia Cup make the cut for the global showpiece.

This was also India’s only second entry in the final after 2012.

After three goalless quarters, Toppo finally broke the deadlock in the 47th minute to seal the contest. It was a good build-up play between Mahima Tete and Jyoti Chhatri that allowed Toppo to score the winner

Both India and Japan had ample scoring chances, including as many as 12 penalty corners each, but failed to utilise the set-pieces.