India displayed their dominance in Women's hockey and defeated Thailand 13-0 to register their third consecutive win in the Women's Asian Champions Trophy 2024 at Rajgir Hockey Stadium in Bihar on Thursday. (Highlights | More Hockey News)
Deepika's five goals in the game confirmed India's victory in the third quarter. She scored the first goal for India in the third minute as the captain Salima Tete passed the ball to her and she dragged the ball which nutmegged the opponent's goalkeeper as India took an early lead in the game.
Player her 50th International game, Preeti Dubey found the ball near the opponent's goalpost in the ninth minute and she just flicked the ball with her stick to score the second goal for India. Dubey scored again in the 40th minute.
The game was mainly overshadowed by Deepika's heroics. She scored her second goal in the second quarter and her next three goals within two minutes at the end of the third quarter (43rd 45th, and 45th minutes).
Lalremsiami played her 150th international game for India and was honoured by Hockey India before the start of the match. She made the occasion even more memorable by scoring two goals.
Her first goal came in the 12th minute when Salima took a long-range shot that was saved by the Thailand goalkeeper. Lalremsiami, quick to react, seized the opportunity and used a backhand shot to propel the ball into the goalpost. Her second goal came in the 56th minute.
Manisha Chauhan, who was not included in the starting XI of the Indian team later found the net twice within a time period of three minutes. Beaty Dung Dung and Navneet Kaur also scored in the game.
India had earlier defeated Malaysia 4-0 and South Korea 3-2 and with this big win over Thailand, they have virtually qualified for the semi-finals. Thaough they still have to play two more matches.
India face Paris Olympics silver medallists China on Saturday in the next match. Thailand, on the other hand, will clash with South Korea on the 16th November at the same venue.
