The Indian women's hockey team has reached the finale of the 2017 Asia Cup, defeating hosts and defending champions Japan 4-2 in a closely fought semi-final in Kakamgigahara on Friday. The Indian eves have now set up a summit clash with China.
Goals from Gurjit Kaur (7th, 9th minutes), Navjot Kaur (9th) and Lalremsiami (38th) underlined India's victory, which took them to a fourth Asia Cup final; India won the title in 2004 and finished runners-up in 1999 and 2009.
Rani Rampal's team will face China in the final on Sunday, after having beaten them 4-1 in the league stage just a few days ago.
The Indian eves registered a place in the title clash after handing a 7-1 defeat to Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals played at the Kakamigahara Kawasaki Stadium on Thursday. In the second semifinals, China shall be taking on Korea.
They secured a win against Kazhakstan courtesy a hattrick by Gurjit Kaur while Navneet Kaur and Deep Grace scored two goals each for the team.
India has been in rich goalscoring form all through the tournament. India started their campaign with a 10-0 rout over Singapore. They then went on to trounce China 4-1 and rounded off their group engagements with a 2-0 win over Malaysia to top the group.
India, who will be playing their fourth final, won the title in 2004 and finished runners-up in 1999 and 2009. China have won the Asia Cup twice, in 1989 and 2009. In the 2009 final, China beat India 5-3. The winner of the 2017 edition will qualify for the 2018 World Cup in England.
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