FIH Pro League: The Indian women’s hockey team suffered a 1-2 defeat in a shoot-out against Germany in the first match of the FIH Pro League stage two match. Both the teams were tied 1-1 after regular time at the Kalinga Stadium. The foundation for the thrilling match between world number 9 team India and fifth number team Germany was laid in the first five minutes itself. Navneet Kaur gave India the lead in the fourth minute but before the hosts could celebrate the goal, Charlotte Sipel made the score 1-1 in the very next minute.
Both the teams then got a lot of chances to score but none succeeded as the score was tied 1-1 after 60 minutes of regular time and the match was drawn into a shoot-out where Germany won. In the shoot-out, only Navneet could score for India while Sharmila Devi, Neha Goel, Laremsiami and Monika failed.
Took it stick-to-stick till the end but not the end we hoped. Germany took it away in the shootout. We see an opportunity to come back stronger and victorious tomorrow, 13 March 2022!#IndiaKaGame #FIHProLeague #hockeyetitsbest @IndiaSports @Media_SAI @CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha pic.twitter.com/tAO2fiP2yf
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) March 12, 2022
Pauline Heinz and Sarah Strauss scored for Germany to give their team victory. The Indian women’s team, making their Pro League debut, started their campaign on a stellar start by defeating China 7-1 and 2-1 in the opening two matches in Muscat. India then defeated world No. 6 Spain 2-1 at home last month but lost 3-4 in the second leg.
India got one point from a regular time draw while Germany got two points including a bonus point. Despite the loss, India are on the third spot with 10 points from five matches. Germany are in sixth place with just two points from three matches. The second match between the two teams will be played at the Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday.