India thrash Malaysia 6-1, sail into women's hockey semis

Melbourne, Mar 21 (UNI) Playing with determination and a well thought out plan, defending champions India humbled Malaysia 6-1 to sail into the semifinals of the women's hockey competition in the Commonwealth Games here today.

The Indian girls who were virtually written off after their dismal showing against Australia and South Africa, rose to the occasion and scripted an impressive win which put them in the second place in their pool with seven points.

The first five Indian goals came off penalty corners and the lone field goal was scored by Saba Anjum. The winners forced as many as 15 penalty corners thus underlying their superiority in the field.

That they missed nine penalty corners was a ''cause for concern'' for coach Maharaj Krishan Kaushik, who otherwise looked pleased with the performance of his wards.

Kaushik was happy but not boastful in saying that ''we have still a long way to go'' to retain the gold and the girls will have to further improve their game''.

''But, it was a reassuring display and I am happy that the girls realised the importance of the game and came out victorious.'' India will meet New Zealand in the semifinals. The Kiwis topped Pool 'B' defeating England, who finished second.

It was a do or die game for India. A draw or defeat would have meant their ouster from the competition and the girls gave their best to record the win in a very emphatic manner.

For the winners, who led 4-0 at half time, the goal scorers were Jasjeet Handa (21st minute), Jyoti Kullu (27th), Sarita Lakra (29th), Mamta Kharab (32nd), Sanggai Maimom (41st) and Anjum Saba (47th).

For the losers, N Intan Ahmed reduced the margin in the 61st minute.

The Indians were totally focused and though they muffed some easy chances, they made amends by earning 15 penalty corners and making use of one third of them.

The winners should have gone into the lead very early. But, Asunta Lakra missed a penalty corner and then Saba Anjum muffed a chance. However, the Indians did not allow their rivals any quarter throughout the match.

They also adopted a good tactics of using different players for penalty corners and this turned out to be a surprie element for the rival defence and goalkeeper, who had no idea as who will be taking the shot and in what direction.

Jasjeet put India ahead in the 21st minute scoring of a penalty corner and them Jyoti Kullu raised the tally, again off a penalty corner.

Sarita Lakra and Mamta Kharab scored in a space of three minutes to raise the tally to 4-0.

The indians should have scored more in the second session which they dominated but the same old story of missed chances was repeated. However, Sanggai Maimom made it 5-0 and Saba Anjum completed the rout.

Malaysian goalkeeper brought off some good saves, but in the face of repeated assaults, she also could not do much and caved in.

In the fag end of the match against the run of play, N Ahmed reduced the margin for the losers.

Australia topped Pool 'A' with all win record while India with seven points finished second.

New Zealand topped Pool 'B' with 12 points, followed by England with nine points.

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