Indian girls wallop South Africa 6-1, climb to the top of the pool at Women's Hockey World Cup
The Indian girls notched up a majestic 6-1 win against South Africa in the second of their FIH Hockey World Cup pool matches in Amstelveen on Tuesday (August 18). As a result of the win, Sjoerd Marijne's team. . .
The Indian girls notched up a majestic 6-1 win against South Africa in the second of their FIH Hockey World Cup pool matches in Amstelveen on Tuesday (August 18). As a result of the win, Sjoerd Marijne's team now have four points from two games, having drawn 2-2 with China in their opener. The Indians launched a wave of attacks to improve their goal difference, which may come in handy to determine which two sides finish on top of Pool A at the end of the initial group stage. Onthatile Zulu's scorching runs gave the South African fans reason to cheer, but the speedy Olympian found little support from her teammates. Kayla de Waal scored South Africa's lone goal in the final quarter. India now lead Pool D with China in second place, also with four points. England are in the third spot with three points from two games while South Africa have no points thus far in the Hockey World Cup. Expand TweetThe Indians were on the offensive early, making their way into the South African circle in the second minute with a series of short passes. The South African deep defence were kept busy but did enough to prevent Marijne's squad from scoring, with Marlise van Tonder standing tall under the bar. Kayla de Waal forced Bichu Devi into a save even as South Africa rattled the Indians with a swift counter-attack in the fourth minute. The resultant penalty corner, however, was wasted by Inki Zondi's team. A deft goalmouth tap finally got the Indians an opening goal in the 11th minute after the ball trickled into the South African net off Sunelita Toppo's stick with Marlise van Tonder out of position. A second penalty corner came India's way in the 17th minute. Navneet Kaursent in a blazing low drag-flick that sliced the diving goalkeeper and the runner the post, enabling the Indians the luxury of a two-goal cushion. A scintillating sprint down the right from Onthatile Zulu came to nought in the 21st minute after she outran the Indian defence all the way to the goalmouth. India won two back-to-back corners in the 24th minute. After being unable to convert a couple, the ball was snuck in bySushila Chanuoff a drag-flick rebound a minute later. A well-angled tomahawk from Lalremsiami helped India score their fifth goal of the match in the 44th minute. Sakshi Rana latched onto a rebound off the goalpost, using a backhander to score a spectacular sixth for her side, much to the delight of the Indian camp. India, China, and England - Three teams to battle for two winners pool spots at Women's Hockey World CupIndia are ahead of China in the FIH Hockey World Cup points table - Source: FIHThe crucial England-China game featuring the heavyweights from Pool D went in favour of Alyson Annan's team as they pulverised the England defence with three quick goals in the second quarter. A fourth goal in the 35th minute ensured that the Chinese came away 4-2 winners after England scored two at the death in their second Hockey World Cup game. China now have four points from two gamesin the Hockey World Cup and are the favourites to top the pool given that their game in hand is against South Africa. As such, the winner of the England-India game could decide which two teams from Pool D progress to the winners' pool alongside the top two sides from Pool A involving the Netherlands, Australia, Japan and Chile. Quick LinksMore from SportskeedaEdited by Subhashish Majumdar