IND Vs MAS, Women's ACT 2024: Sangita Kumari's Brace Helps India Beat Malaysia 4-0 In Opener

Sangita Kumari was the star for India who opened their scorecard in the first quarter after the captain Salima Tete took the second penalty corner and passed it on to Deepika who aimed for the goalpost but the ball went to Sangita, who just showed the direction to the ball.

The second quarter remained goalless but Malaysian players showed brilliant defence and managed to penetrate India's circle multiple times. But Indian goalkeeper Savita Punia remained there like a mountain to deny them their first goal of the evening.

By half-time, India were awarded 10 penalty corners and they managed to score in only one of them. Malaysia, on the other hand, had only one and they failed in that.

The third quarter brought back-to-back goals for India when first Preeti Dubey found the goalpost thanks to Navneet Kaur's brilliant pass which found Preeti's slight flick that saw the ball going into the goalpost.

Then India got another penalty corner in the next minute and Udita converted that into her first and India's third goal of the evening. She smashed the ball directly into the goalpost.

With five minutes left in the game, Sangita Kumari found the ball again and she took the ball near the Malaysian goalpost and with the help of a brilliant backhander, she scored her second goal.

India got 17 penalty corners in the game and conceded only two. Malaysia will try to learn from their mistakes and come back stronger in their next game against China on Tuesday.

Earlier, the match started with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar meeting both team players and Hockey India officials. He joined both teams for the national anthems and Hockey India also felicitated him.

Now, the defending champions will face Korea on Tuesday at the same venue. The home crowd came in huge numbers for the opening match and they are expected to come for tomorrow's match as well.