The Indian women, who had no option but to raise the bar, improved their performance by a few notches to beat Canada 4-1 in the Olympic hockey qualifier at the National Stadium here on Sunday.
The 1-1 draw against Ukraine in the opening match was a heart-breaking experience and the host badly needed to recover from the shock within 24 hours. It responded with a convincing win, earning three crucial points and heaving a sigh of relief before locking horns with stronger opposition.
Y. Soundarya, Rani Rampal, Sushila Chanu and Anuradha Devi scored a goal apiece for the home side, while young forward Hannah Haughn pulled one back for Canada.
The opening period indicated India's intention. Despite some poor execution, it had enough ammunition to enjoy a 3-0 cushion at half-time.
The strategy of attacking predominantly from the left, an unusual feature for India, was aimed at catching the Canadian defence off-guard. The agile Anuradha played an important role in making the raids. However, poor finishing did not bring the desired result for the home team.
Soundarya scores
India opened its account when Soundarya converted the first penalty corner in the 16th minute. Captain Asunta Lakra's low-powered slap-shot was deflected home by Soundarya from the right in a well-crafted execution.
Three minutes later, Rani Rampal scored a fine goal to enhance the lead. After self-passing a free-hit just outside the circle on the left, Rani dribbled past three defenders to sound the boards.
India fumbled a few chances before it earned four penalty corners in the space of two minutes. The tentative approach while taking shots spoilt three short corners before Sushila engaged herself in a variation with Asunta to score off the fourth one. The game was 29 minutes old at that stage.
India went in search of more goals in the second half and Anuradha, exhibiting supreme athleticism, rushed from the left flank, latched on to a loose ball inside the Canadian circle and fired in a superb hit in the 49th minute to make it 4-0.
In the last meeting between the two teams at the 2010 Commonwealth Games on the same pitch, India won 3-0.
The Canadians, led by the 17-year-old Hannah and Kate Gillis, came up with a few counterattacks. However, the Indian backline, consisting of the seasoned Subhadra Pradhan and Joydeep Kaur, blocked the attempts. Hannah, finally, restored some pride for her side by scoring off a goalmouth scramble in the dying seconds.
Hat-trick by Alessia
In the other matches, Italy, powered by Alessia Padalino's hat-trick, defeated Poland 4-1, while South Africa beat Ukraine 2-0. Alessia became the first player to perform a hat-trick in the tournament.
The results: Italy 4 (Giuliana Ruggieri 41, Alessia Padalino 43, 48 & 65) bt Poland 1 (Anna Grzanka 49); South Africa 2 (Pietie Coetzee 20, Dirkie Chamberlain 29) bt Ukraine 0; India 4 (Y. Soundarya 16, Rani Rampal 19, Sushila Chanu 29, Anuradha Devi 49) bt Canada 1 (Hannah Haughn 69).
