India will play Malaysia in the women’s Junior Asia Cup, and they want to keep winning

Despite an impressive start to its season, the Indian women’s hockey team will want to avoid complacency when it faces Malaysia in its second Pool A game of the Junior Asia Cup here on Monday.

The Indian women’s journey to the Junior Asia Cup began with a spirited 22-0 thrashing of a weak Uzbekistan.

As India defeated Uzbekistan, up to eight players—Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke, Mumtaz Khan, Annu, Sunelita Toppo, Manju Chorsiya, Deepika Soreng, Deepika, and Neelam—registered their names on the scorecard.

In addition to Mumtaz Khan and Deepika scoring four goals apiece, Annu scored a double hat-trick. In India’s tournament debut, Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke, Sunelita Toppo, and Deepika Soreng all scored twice.

India will want to keep up their outstanding record against Malaysia on Monday.

Preeti, the captain of India, said that they will want to maintain their form in the competition’s remaining games.

In a press release, she said, “We’ve had a terrific start to the competition, laying a solid foundation. Our objective is to retain that same level of commitment when we play Malaysia.

“The convincing win in our first game has boosted our confidence and given us the drive we need to advance in the competition. It’s important to note that Malaysia has a strong squad, so we expect a competitive match.

Malaysia, on the other hand, has also gotten off to a great start in the competition, defeating Chinese Taipei easily 7-0. And they would be excited to face the Indians and see how they fared.

Notably, India defeated both teams by a score of 9-1 when they last faced off in 2015 at the women’s Junior Asia Cup.

The Indians will unquestionably start as favourites given the relative quality of the two squads.

India will play Korean on Tuesday after Malaysia, and on June 8 they will play Chinese Taipei in their last group match.

PTI