Deepika Soreng and Mumtaz Khan scored a brace each as the Indian women’s hockey team eked out a narrow 5-4 win over Poland in its opening Pool C match of the FIH Hockey5s Women’s World Cup here on Wednesday. Mumtaz (4th, 23th minutes) and Deepika (6th, 29th) struck twice, while Mariana Kujur (23rd) was the other goal scorer for India.
Poland’s goals were scored by Julia Kucharska (8th), captain Marlena Rybacha (10th), Paula Slawinska (27th) and Monika Polewczak (29th). The Indians were quick to get off the blocks as they took the lead in the fourth minute through Mumtaz’s field goal. Two minutes later, Deepika doubled India’s lead with another field strike.
Poland struck back minutes later through Kucharska and skipper Rybacha’s field goals to level the scores at 2-2 with five minutes left in the first half. Four minutes later, Mumtaz scored her second goal as India had their noses in front by the end of the first half with the scoreline reading 3-2.
The second half of the game was off to a quiet start with both the teams preventing each other from scoring any goals. But as India kept up the pressure on Poland with some top-quality passing, Kujur extended India’s lead with a brilliant finish. With three minutes left on the clock, Slawinska intercepted an Indian pass and scored to reduce the deficit to one. However, Deepika soon scored as India again had a two-goal lead.
Polewczak scored within no time as the score read 5-4 in favour of India with just about a minute left. The Indians did just enough to hold on to the lead to start their campaign on a positive note. India will next play the United States of America.
