India eves pip Azerbaijan, win tourney

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As the year is drawing to a close, the 'Chak De' magic has come a full circle. After doing its rounds with cricket, football, men's hockey, now it could be seen spelling its charms on the team on which the movie was made. Yes, you guessed it right - the Indian women's hockey team. India ousted Azerbaijan 1-0 in final of the Lal Bahadur Shastri four-nation women's hockey tournament in Delhi on Wednesday. The solitary goal was scored by winger Saba Anjum to script the win for the hosts. "I am really happy that we have won. In fact, we had come into play with this thought that we have to win, even more so since we are playing on the home turf," said a proud Anjum, who was adjudged Player of the Match. "With the efforts we were putting in, our team had to win. The goal has been scored by the team. If the ball was not passed to me then how could I have scored the goal," added the winger. The final was a clash of equals with both the teams giving a tough fight to each other right from the possession of the ball. The first half ended without a goal being scored. Both the teams failed and frittered away big chances. "They (Azerbaijan) had two-three good chances. They could not touch the ball. It was very close to the goal. Same thing happened with us. Even we missed one or two chances, very clear chances," said India coach GS Bhangu. Ranked 13th in the world, India eves failed to score an early goal as Subhadra Pradhan's hit off a Mamta Kharab pass missed the target. While the opponent team, ranked 15th in the world, fought with a good attack and earned a couple of penalty corners in the first half. The hosts got a penalty corner in the first half, but it proved futile as they failed to capitalise it. And even the second penalty didn't prove to be beneficial for the hosts, until the third one came in to turn the tables in favour of India eves. Anjum shot the only goal of the match in the 52nd minute that definitely put the tourists under pressure. In the last 15 minutes of the match, the Azerbaijan team made several desperate moves. But all went in vain, as India goalkeeper Dipika Murty thwarted the opponent side by preventing them from drawing parity. And despite her rigorous efforts, Azerbaijan striker Myungsoon Mammadova couldn't equalise. According to the coach, Bhangu, although there were changes made in the team formation, the team's strategy in the final was to play attacking hockey. "We had to change in between when we were losing control in the midfield. Since we had to strengthen the midfield, we brought one forward back." Looking ahead to the Olympic qualifiers in Russia next year, Bhangu said, "We have a good chance to qualify. In our pool, only USA can give us a tough fight. But we hope to put up a good show." The Indian skipper, Mamta Kharab, too shared a similar opinion. "Our preparations are basically for the Olympic qualifiers. The final match of the four-nation tournament has been excellent for us. We had many youngsters in the team for the event. The combination is much better than what it was earlier." "Few of our senior players have been out of action due to injuries. Considering that it is important to have experienced players in the side, we are trying to have them back before the qualifiers," added Kharab. Earlier in the day, Italy beat Malaysia 1-0 to finish third in the tournament. The only goal was scored by Julieta Obrist in extra time, as both the teams couldn't score in regulation time. Meanwhile, adding glamour to the event was Bollywood actress Dia Mirza, who made her presence felt only till the first half of the spectacular finale.

http://sports.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2598780.cms

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Well Done :two_thumbs_up::two_thumbs_up: Now they should be handsomely rewarded