India faced a 1-2 defeat at the hands of China in the first match of the Hockey Pro League. The match was being played at Bhubaneshwar’s Kalinga Hockey Stadium.
The first goal of the match was scored by Vandana Katariya (15’). However, China’s Wen Dan (40’) and Bingfeng Gu (52’) scored two goals to ensure China’s win.
India began play with great gusto; however, they could not build ample goal threat.
The first quarter saw China fail an early chance to score. In the last minute before the first quarter, Vandana Katariya scored the game’s first goal, putting India in the lead.
From the very beginning of the second quarter, China was in attack mode. They earned a penalty corner Bichu Devi Kharibam and Ishika Chaudhary did not let the guest team score.
The second quarter ended with India maintaining its lead.
In the second half, India’s Sangita Kumari and Salima Tete made a strong attempt to put the ball past the goalpost, however, with no player in the shooting circle, the attempt was wasted.
At five minutes to the end of the third quarter, Jiaqi Zhong from China passed Indian defenders and shot the ball to Wen Dan who scored the guest’s first goal in the match, levelling the score.
Soon after India earned a penalty corner but could not convert it.
China showed up with aggression in the final quarter. India held up its defence but Bingfeng Gu caught a rebound and put the ball past the goal. The score now was 1-2 in favour of China.
As the game drew to its close, India failed to score another goal. The game ended with the host team facing a defeat.
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