Asian Games 2023 women’s hockey: India lose to China in semi-finals; to play for bronze medal

India missed a direct chance to secure a Paris 2024 Olympic berth. The Indian women’s hockey team will play South Korea or Japan in the bronze medal match on Saturday.

3 minBy Utathya Nag
India vs China hockey, Asian Games 2023 women’s semi-final match.

(Hangzhou2022.cn)

India lost 0-4 to the People’s Republic of China in their Asian Games 2023 women’s hockey semi-final match at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium in Hangzhou on Thursday.

Zhong Jiaqi (25’), Zou Meirong (40’), Liang Meiyu (55’) and Gu Bingfeng (60’) scored for China to hand the Indian women’s hockey team a defeat.

The Indian women’s hockey team, seventh in the FIH rankings, will face Japan in the bronze medal match on Saturday.

The loss means that the Indian women missed out on an opportunity to secure an early Paris 2024 Olympic berth from Hangzhou. Winners of the Asian Games 2023 men’s and women’s hockey tournaments will secure a quota to next year’s Summer Games.

"About our performance today, I don't have the answer yet, but I think it is fair to the players that I share that with them first," Indian women's hockey coach Janneke Schopman said.

"When we entered this tournament, we were ready," Schopman added. "In hindsight, we can always say there are things that could have been different. But I would have to reflect in depth to make a decision on that."

With the home crowd behind them, it was the hosts who took the offence to India in the opening quarter. China won three penalty corners in the period but some brave defending from the Indian rushers and a good save from goalkeeper-captain Savita Punia kept the scoreline level.

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India’s only notable offensive move of the opening quarter came through Salima Tete, who raced down the right flank to put in a cross but the Chinese defence cleared the danger.

The sustained pressure by the hosts finally yielded results in the second quarter. Zhong Jiaqi’s deflected drag flick wrong-footed Savita and rippled the Indian net.

Rattled by the goal, the Indian side looked for a response but lacked the precision and poise in the final third. The first half ended with China leading 1-0.

The Janneke Schopman-coached India looked marginally better after the restart and pressed high in search of an equaliser. China, though, looked comfortable enough defending deep and looking for counter-attacking opportunities.

China extended their lead towards the end of the third quarter through a Zou Meirong penalty corner.

Down two goals, India finally started to attack with purpose and won back-to-back penalty corners. One even ended up in the back of the net but the goal was disallowed due to dangerous play.

India came out all guns blazing in the final quarter and won a flurry of penalty corners but the Chinese defence stayed organised to avert any dangers. 

With India pushing forward, China exploited the space left behind to score a third and found their third of the match through Liang Meiyu’s field goal. The third goal killed off the contest but China added one more to their tally with Gu Bingfeng converting a penalty corner with the final shot of the match.

Having missed the Olympic berth in Hangzhou, the Indian women will now need to rely on the FIH Olympic qualifying tournaments, to be hosted next year, to secure a spot at Paris 2024.

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