India women’s hockey team won a bronze, winning the game 2-1 in a penalty shootout against New Zealand on Sunday in the ongoing Birmingham Commonwealth Games. It was Salima Tete who found the back of the net in the first half of the game, but a last minute equaliser by Merry took the game into a penalty shootout.
New Zealand did hit the back of the net in third quarter but the goal was cancelled. It was noted that the Kiwis had not taken the ball from the 5m line and India continued their lead.
The Indian women’s side got another chance in the fourth quarter after the referral went in their favour for the penalty but they failed to hit the back of the net. With four minutes left in the game, New Zealand removed their goalkeeper with 11 players being in the outfield. However, soon after that India was playing with only 9 players after a player got a yellow card.
Although the game got a little intense in the last minute after a foul by Navneet in New Zealand’s penalty corner. With only 18 seconds left in the game, a goal by New Zealand’s Olivia Merry levelled the game 1-1, taking it into a penalty shootout.
The New Zealand side did take the first shot, keeping it clear into the goal as India failed their first attempt in the shootout. But the women in blue took the game after hitting two back-to-back goals in the penalty and New Zealand failing their next four attempts.
Earlier, India women’s team lost to Australia in a controversial game on Friday. The India Women hit an equaliser after Australia took the lead with the clock controversy, but missed the finals berth losing the game in the penalty shootout 0-3.
