MÖNCHENGLADBACH, GERMANY, AUG 2 : Indian challenge ended today in the ERGO Hockey Junior Women World Cup here as they were defeated by defending champions The Netherlands by 3-0 in the first semi-final match. In the first semi-final Argentina marched into the final at the expense of England whom they blanked by 3-0.
India will now meet England in Sunday’s bronze medal match.
India, who made their maiden entry in the WC Junior final, were not given any liberty by the rough and tough Netherlands players. The match supervised by Irene Presenqui from Argentina and Amber Church from New Zealand. Scheerlince Lisa and Van Wijk Lieke were shown green cards in the 38th and 62nd minutes, respectively.
Netherlands scored through Van Wijk Lieke (17th, penalty corner), de Lange Lisanne (57th, field goal) and Scheerlinck Lisa (68th, FG).
The first half of the match was confined to midfield as both sides struggled to create promising scoring opportunities from open play. However, the first penalty corner resulted in a goal for The Netherlands. Tournament top scorer Lieke van Wijk’s drag flick found the net beating India’s goalkeeper Chanu Sanarik Ningombam to put her side ahead.
A few minutes later, the Dutch girls forced another penalty corner which went wide. India had a promising scoring opportunity before halftime when they earned their first penalty corner but could not get the shot away.
India stepped the pace up after the break and forced their second penalty corner on 41 minutes but to no avail. The crowd witnessed a very competitive second half without many chances in it. When The Netherlands won their third penalty corner, Indian goalie Ningombam made two tremendous saves against van Wijk to keep her team in the game. However, it was Lisanne de Lange doubling the Dutch lead in the 57th minute.
With six minutes remaining on the clock, Rani had a big opportunity to pull one back but the Dutch goalie Anne Veenendaal parried well. India fought hard to score but the ball did not go in. As time began to run down Lisa Scheerlinck converted a counter-attack securing her team’s 3-0 win.
Earlier, in the first semi-final Argentina stormed into the final as they wrestled down England by 3-0.
Due to the hot temperatures here in Mönchengladbach, the game was divided in four quarters of 17.5 minutes each. Argentina began the first quarter with great intensity, leading 1-0 after 13 minutes of play. The opening goal came off a penalty corner with Jemena Cedres deflecting the ball into the net. Argentina dominated ball possession throughout the first quarter but did not break through the English defence again.
Play settled in the midfield for much of the second quarter as both teams seemed to struggle with the heat. The Leoncitas doubled their lead in the third quarter when Cedres fired home another penalty corner. Argentina could have added more goals but failed to score from a series of penalty corners at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter saw England working hard to get on the scoreboard. They forced two early penalty corners but could not capitalize on any of them. With six minutes remaining in the match, the Leoncitas extended their lead to 3-0 when Julia Gomes Fantasia’s penalty corner flick found the net.