Low-on-confidence, Indian women’s hockey team faced second successive defeat in their FIH Pro League 2023-24 encounter against World No.1 team, the Netherlands. The hosts lost 1-3 at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium, Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
While Navneet Singh scored for the Indian team, Yibbi Jansen (3’, 34’) and Fay van der Elst (21’) scored for the touring team. Once again, the Indians failed to convert the penalty corners, while Jansen fired two goals past keeper Savita Punia.
India PC specialist Gurjit Kaur failed to come up with a variation that could go past the Dutch goal-keeper, as the team suffered once again, on that account. Having said that, the Indian defence looked solid as they restricted the opposition to only three goals.
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With this loss, India have slipped to the seventh position in the FIH Pro League points table, with no wins to their name so far. The Netherlands are the table-toppers with six wins from as many games, with China on second. India next plays Australia on Feb 7.
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