Dec 05: India came from behind to hold Azerbaijan 1-1 and qualifies for the finals of four-nation Shastri women's hockey tournament
Indian eves continued their run of trailing and staging a fightback as they rallied to hold Azerbaijan 1-1 in their last league match to set-up title clash with the same rivals in the final of the inaugural four-nation Lal Bahadur Shastri women hockey tournament.
Indian team first conceded a goal and then bounced back in all the matches of the tournament thus far. It is not that the team is lacking something but it is the part of the Chief Coach G S Bhangu long-term plan to start with defensive approach and then switch over to attacking ploy as a preparation for the forthcoming Olympic qualifiers in March next year.
Though the plan seems peculiar to hockey buffs but coach Bhangu is continuing with his weird strategy in quest of a Beijing berth for the women's hockey team.
Azerbaijan opened their account in the 15th minute through Aliyeva Mi Kyong via penalty corner, while India managed to restore parity nine minutes before the sound of hooter through a fine field goal scored by Ritu Rani. In the other match of the day, Italy defeated Malaysia by 1-0 riding on the early first half goal by Possali Daniela.
Italy will again meet Malaysia for the third-fourth place play-off match.
India managed quite well to keep the strikers of Azerbaijan at bay as they were constantly raiding the Indian citadel in the first half. Indian players came back strongly in the second half as skipper Mamta Kharab alongwith Subadhra Pradhan moved upfront and exerted pressure in the Azerbaijan's danger area with a series of attacks.
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