JOIN USIndian women overcame a wobbly start before defeating Canada 5-2 in a warm-up game ahead of the Olympic hockey qualifiers.
India were down a goal after Hannah Haughn put Canada, seven rungs below India at the 20th place, ahead in the opening minutes. The hosts came back through Jasjeet Kaur Handa, Joydeep Kaur, Jaspreet Kaur and Anuradha Devi before Brienne Stairs scored the second goal for Canada.
Coach CR Kumar, though, was not very happy and said they would need to work on getting a good start. “The start is a bit of a concern. But we came back well and played a good second half," Kumar told reporters.
“The other teams are physically stronger than us and they will try to take an early lead. We need to release the ball quickly.
“Also, we need to make a few structural changes with the half-line going back a bit and supporting the defenders.”
The coach did express his happiness with penalty-corner conversions. India converted three of their four short corners. "The penalty-corner conversion was good and we scored field goals as well. That it is a postive,” Kumar said.
Canada coach Louis Mendonca said his team needed to be more consistent in defending penalty corners.
"We need to get better and defend penalty corners. We were trying to get the feel of playing on the pitch and assessing the opposition. India are a strong side,” Mendonca said.