India women strike back with rare victory vs Germany

BHUBANESWAR: The Indian women's hockey team came back in style from their disastrous showing on Friday by beating Germany 1-0 in their FIH Pro League game at Kalinga Stadium here on Saturday.
It was only their second win in regular time against Die Danas since 2006. The other one had come in 2015 during a Test match in Valencia.
On Saturday evening, they started positively, and Deepika put them in the lead as early as the 12th minute after they won their first penalty corner of the match. She went towards the left of the goalkeeper, and it was too well struck.
They could have then doubled the lead within a few minutes when Deepika ran down the middle and played an immaculate pass to Sharmila. Running down the right flank, all Sharmila had to do was put it past the German goalkeeper Finja Starck, who came out early to deny India their second goal.
At the other end of the pitch, India goalkeeper Bichu Devi Kharibam put up an impressive show to keep the Germans from scoring. It was her first match of the tournament, and she did an incredible job in front of the goal.
Especially in the final quarter, when the Germans went all out in search of the equaliser, she kept calm and made some brilliant saves. One of them was a double save from Sophia Schwabe and Lisa Nolte. Interestingly, she got to know that she was playing only on the match day morning, and it was quite something.
"The moment I heard that I was going to play, I started to feel a change within myself and began preparing for the match," said Bichu Devi after the game.
"Savita didi is like my own elder sister and she also motivated me a lot. She said, 'Play simple hockey and there's no need to take any pressure. You are the best goalkeeper in my eyes.' Thanks to her advice I was able to play with a free mind and concentrate on my goalkeeping."
Asked what the plan was, the 23-year-old from Manipur said, "I told my teammates to just block the balls that were coming down the middle and I would take care of everything coming down the sides. Most importantly, I enjoyed the game."
India coach Harendra Singh, who was livid on Friday, was pleased with the fact that the team was switched on for the entire 60 minutes, something they were unable to do on Friday.
The win, meanwhile, is India's second in six matches in this Pro League and they will now face off against Olympic champions the Netherlands on Monday and Tuesday.
The Dutch women's team won 6-0 against England earlier in the day.
India men win again: The Indian men's hockey team continued their good show in the tournament as they beat Ireland 4-0 on Saturday. It was their fourth win in six matches in the tournament so far and they did not face much trouble this time.
Odisha's Nilam Sanjeep Xess opened the scoring in the 14th minute while Mandeep Singh (24') and Abhishek (28') added two more in the second quarter. Shamsher Singh (34') also got his name on the scoresheet in the third quarter as India earned the win and their third clean sheet so far.