Women's Junior Asia Cup: India rallied to beat Malaysia 2-1

The Indian Junior Women's Hockey Team came back from a one-goal deficit to beat Malaysia 2-1 on Monday in the women's Junior Asia Cup 2023 hockey tournament in Kakamigahara, Japan.

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Mumtaz Khan (10') and Deepika (26') proved to be India's troublemakers when Malaysia took the lead in the sixth minute through Dian Nazeri. India topped Pool A after this win. They have thrashed Uzbekistan 22-0 in the first match of the Women's Junior Asia Cup tournament. India will next face Korea in the third pool match on Tuesday.

India was aggressive from the start and in the process earned a few penalty corners. But they failed to capitalize on them. Malaysia, on the other hand, was initially intent on keeping the better part of ball possession. They soon switched to the counter-attack and it paid off as an unmarked Nazeri scored a simple goal to give his side an unexpected lead. Malaysia's lead, however, did not last long as Mumtaz equalized for India four minutes later from a penalty corner. India continued to play aggressive hockey in search of the lead in the second quarter. Their plan worked as they won a penalty stroke four minutes before half time and Deepika made no mistake.

Notably, the Indian team kept on attacking in a bid to extend the lead. But the second quarter didn't see any more goals as India went into the half-time break with a 2-1 lead. The third quarter started in the same fashion as the second as India continued to dominate the game by keeping ball possession. However, neither India nor Malaysia were able to find the back of the net in the third quarter as it ended goalless.

Also Read: Women's Junior Asia Cup: India starts with victory over Uzbekistan by 22-0

Keen to maintain their advantage, India focused on keeping the ball possession in the fourth quarter. While Malaysia came out looking for an equalizer. However, the Indian players started playing aggressively. They made sure that Malaysia spent most of its time in defense rather than attacking. The strategy worked out as the thrilling match ended 2-1 in favor of India. 

Earlier, in the year 2015, during the Women's Junior Asia Cup, there was a match against Malaysia in which the Indian team also won 9-1.