What are takeaways from India's Women's Hockey Asia Cup campaign?

The outfit managed to bag the bronze medal at the event.

India’s campaign at the Women’s Hockey Asia Cup 2022 was full of ups and downs. The tournament took place in Muscat, Oman and the top four teams were to gain qualification to the 2022 Women’s FIH Hockey World Cup. The Indian team were the defending champions coming into the tournament and strong favourites to go all the way.

Their historic fourth-place at the Tokyo Olympics made them major contenders to win the gold medal. However, a defeat to South Korea in the semi-finals meant that the best India could do was finish third. They eventually secured the podium place by defeating China and finished the tournament on a high.

Here are the takeaways for the Indian women’s hockey team from the Asia Cup:

Positives

Podium Finish

While India were the favourites to win the whole tournament, grabbing third place is not a bad achievement, nonetheless. Defeating China 2-0 in the third-place playoff was a tough ask, but the players delivered a decent performance to secure the podium finish. 

World Cup Qualification

The tournament offered a major incentive to the top four places, which was an entry into the FIH Hockey World Cup later this year. India secured that by entering the semi-finals by finishing second in Pool A, behind Japan. Two big-margin wins over Malaysia (9-0) and Singapore (9-1) ensured the team would reach the semi-finals and have the chance to win the prestigious World Cup later in 2022. 

Goalscoring Form

India scored plenty of goals during the tournament, 22 in total. Infact, they were the second-highest goalscorers of the Women's Hockey Asia Cup 2022.

Their highest scorer was Gurjit Kaur with four goals. Players like Vandana Katariya, Monika Malik and Sharmila Devi scored three goals each. Kaur’s penalty-corner conversion saw ups and downs, but with a little more consistency, she will become a force to reckon with in the world hockey circuit. 

Negatives

Crumbling under pressure

India’s performance at the Women's Hockey Asia Cup was marred by two disappointing defeats, against Japan and South Korea. Their first debacle of the tournament came during the Pool A encounter with Japan, which they lost 2-0. Then, their second loss of the tournament came during the semi-final against the Koreans. The 3-2 scoreline saw them go out of contention for the top two places. Wins against Malaysia and Singapore were overshadowed because of the performances against two stronger teams that posed a bigger challenge.

Rigid Tactics

It looked like India were too dependent on their forward Vandana Katariya and defender Gurjit Kaur from penalty-corners. The opposition was quick to figure this out and suffocated the service to Katariya. On the other hand, despite scoring four goals, Gurjit’s penalty-corner conversion rate was not exemplary. 

Penalty-corner conversion

A visible problem in India’s performances was a lack of backup options in penalty-corner situations. Gurjit Kaur is a strong drag-flicker, but she was struggling with her rhythm. Moreover, there was not a reliable candidate to fill in for her. Players like Deep Grace Ekka did try to make an impact, but did not have a similar effect. Janneke Schopmann and team must also plan more variations to keep the opponents guessing. 

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