Buenos Aires (Argentina), 12 October 2018: The Indian U-18 Women’s Hockey team on Thursday produced a decisive performance to defeat South Africa 5-2 in their fifth and final Pool A match of the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games held here at the Parque Polideportivo Roca. The victory saw India secure their spot in the Quarter-Finals of the Hockey 5s competition as they finished in the second spot with a tally of 12 points, behind leaders Argentina.
Mumtaz Khan (2′, 17′), Reet (10′), Lalremsiami (12′) and Ishika Chaudhary (13′) scored in India’s convincing victory over South Africa as the team ended the Pool stages on a positive after Wednesday’s defeat to hosts Argentina.
The match against South Africa saw India score their first goal inside the opening two minutes as Mumtaz Khan scored off her first shot. Both the teams had their chances in the first period, and it was South Africa’s turn to make the most of the opportunity as they scored the equalizer in the 10th minute through Kayla de Waal. However, India’s Reet made sure that her team went into the half-time break with a 2-1 lead as she scored emphatically with just five seconds remaining on the clock.
The start of the second period saw India’s Mumtaz Khan force two saves off the South African Goalkeeper Mishka Ellis, but it was Lalremsiami who benefited from the constant pressure as she scored India’s third goal in the 12th minute. Iskika Chaudhary also registered her name on the score-sheet as she popped up in the 13th minute to extend India’s lead to 4-1, while Mumtaz Khan scored her second of the match in the 17th minute to make the scoreline 5-1 in India’s favour. South Africa tried to make a comeback into the match in the dying stages but could only pull a goal back in the 19th minute through Angela Welham, as India registered their fourth win in five matches to secure the second spot in Pool A.
The Indian U-18 Women’s team will now play in the Quarter-Finals of the competition which will be held on 12th October 2018 from 22.30hrs IST onwards.
