Antwerp (Belgium): Aiming to win the last match of the pool phase, Indian eves went down fighting and lost to Australia by 2-4 at the ongoing FINTRO Hockey World League 2015 (Women) being played at Belgium.

In a hard fought match between the two teams, Australia took an early lead in the second minute from a penalty corner conversion when the ball rebounded off the back foot and swiftly hit the goal post through the brilliant efforts of Jodie Kenny. The Indian team made some good moves in their circle and showed a very safe and intense game play giving a tough competition to the opposition. Three minutes later, Vandana Katariya skillfully placed the ball and smashed the ball hard into the box through a clear deflection which equalized the scores at 1-1 in the fifth minute. The equalizer was short-lived as Australia’s lead was again restored when Kenny converted a penalty corner in the sixth minute to put her team into the 2-1 lead against India before going into the second quarter.

The second quarter saw tremendous action as both the teams stepped on the turf with more passion and attacked each other’s halves. High- spirited Indian eves showed willingness to attack and continuously looked forward to the counter- attack as quickly as they can. However, Australia got another chance to stretch their lead by earning a penalty corner opportunity but it was cleared by the Indian defence. The concrete defensive structure from both sides foiled the chances of any scoring and quarter ended without the scorecard being touched. At the end of first half Australia was still leading 2-1 against India.

In the third quarter, the two teams played with better strategies and maintained control over the ball. It was India who managed to force a penalty corner in the 33rd minute which was executed successfully by Poonam Rani who dexterously struck the goal post to level the scores at 2-2. Australia responded quickly through Jodie Kenny who surged ahead and scored the third goal for her team in the 33rd minute taking the scores to 3-2. Just a minute before the third quarter ended, Jodie Kenny once again hit the goal and struck the fourth goal for Australia in the 44th minute through a penalty stroke. By the end of the third quarter, the scores were 4-2 in favour of Australia.

Getting underway to the final quarter, while Australia maintained its dominance on the match, India continued to attack aggressively to convert scoring opportunities. Indian Captain Ritu Rani navigated the ball well and created numerous chances, while goalkeeper Rajani produced some outstanding saves to deny the Aussies from scoring any further goals but the game went in favour Australia who defeated India 4-2.