Jharkhand, Nov 6: India beat Japan 4-0 to win the Jharkhand Women’s Asian Champions Trophy, with goals from Sangita Kumari, Neha Goyal, Lalremsiami and Vandana Katariya.It was India’s second Asian Champions Trophy title, with the first one coming in 2016, and the team’s second silverware under head coach Janneke Schopman after the FIH Nations Cup victory.
It was a final that took a while to come to life, and that is even after accounting for the hour’s delay at the start. In the first quarter, which was low on quality and clearcut chances, neither India nor Japan had complete control over their skills, thereby either were not able to exert control on the game either.
However, as she has done throughout this tournament in her home state, Sangita Kumari provided the moment of inspiration for India early in the second quarter, with a superb finish over the Japanese goalkeeper, after being played through on the right flank by Neha.