India Women’s Hockey team has won the Asian Champions Trophy 2023, beating Japan in the final by 4-0. Players such as Sangita Kumari, Neha Goyal, Lalremsiami, and Vandana Katariya combined for the team’s win. For the first time after 2016, the team won this title, Seven years back, they had won their maiden title. Meanwhile, in this listicle, we will discuss five memorable milestones of the team.
Five memorable milestones of the India Women’s Hockey Team
1. Beat Germany in February 2015
In the pre-world league Round 2 series, the Women In Blue played against Germany. Though India was lower ranked than the Germans – 13 to 8, the Asian side came up trumps by 2-1.
It was only in the 40th minute that Deepika scored the opening goal and the Indian eves later doubled their lead as Amandeep Singh converted the penalty corner. Germany, however, cut short the deficit in the 59th minute. After this, the Indian eves showed resilience as the Germans failed to find the equalizer.
2. Beat Australia in November 2016
The Asian side travelled to Australia for a bilateral series. Captain Rani Rampal slotted home the winner in the 21st minute as India, ranked No. 12 in the world, upset World No. 4 Australia.
Goalkeeper Rajani Etimmarpu also played her part, making some crucial saves, to help India script their very first win over hockey powerhouse Australia. The Indian eves won the game by 1-0.
3. Beat England in April 2018
In the Commonwealth Games 2018, India beat the world number two side, England by 2-1 in the pool A match. Gurjit Kaur and Navneet Kaur scored the goals for India in the 42nd and 48th minute respectively after England took the lead through their captain Alexandra Danson 35 seconds into the game.
It was one of the biggest upsets of the Games, as India defeated the reigning Olympic champions, to keep their semi-final chances alive.
4. Beat USA via aggregate in November 2019
India needed to win against the USA to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in which they reached the semis. The Indian eves had to withstand a terrific fightback from USA to triumph in the two-legged FIH qualifier in November 2019 which finished 6-5 in favour of India.
5. Beat Japan in November 2023
In the final of the Asian Champions Trophy 2023, India played Japan. In the game, despite both teams lacking quality in the initial part of the game the Indian women managed to triumph Japan by the big margin of 4-0.
