As a result, India ended the tournament in sixth place after a victory in the group stage against Turkmenistan and losses at the hands of Romania and Uzbekistan.

The first 45 minutes failed to produce any goals, with India enjoying the lion’s share of the chances. The Indian forwards created a flurry of chances in the first 25 minutes – with Sanju, Dangmei Grace and Indumathi all coming close to scoring the opener but were denied by the Kazakh defence.

In the 33rd minute, the Indian eves put the ball in the back of the net, only for the referee to rule out the effort for offside. Kazakhstan threatened the Indian goal in the first half on a couple of occasions, most notably in the 45th minute, but Indian custodian Aditi Chauhan was up to the task and saved a shot from a close-range free-kick.

The second half saw coach Maymol Rocky’s charges come out fired up as they hunted for the go-ahead goal. Dalima Chhibber came close in the 58th minute with a shot from distance and just three minutes later, Ratanbala Devi’s header looked destined for goal but was cleared by the Kazakh defence off the line.

Manisha came on for Anju in the 64th minute and tested the keeper almost immediately with a powerful shot. The Indian side continued to commit players forward as the match headed towards the end but the opening goal still remained elusive. Sanju, Roja Devi and Grace all recorded efforts on goal which, however, did not find the back of the net.

With the game scoreless after regulation time, the players headed for the dreaded penalty shootout. Ashalata Devi put India into a 1-0 lead as her Kazakh counterpart skied her shot. Dalima then stepped up to convert her effort before Manisha saw hers saved by the rival keeper as the score got locked at 2-2.

Grace scored from India’s fourth attempt but Sanju missed her subsequent effort as the Kazakh side converted its last two shots, thus handing the Indian side a narrow 4-3 defeat in the shootout.

India Starting XI: Aditi Chauhan (GK); Dalima Chhibber, Sweety Devi, Ashalata Devi, Jabamani Tudu; Sangita Basfore, Indumathi Kathiresan, Ratanbala Devi; Sanju, Dangmei Grace, Anju Tamang.

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Attacker Sanju was the highest scorer of the match, netting a hat trick as Maymol Rocky’s team bounced back from the 0-1 defeat against Uzbekistan on Wednesday. Anju Tamang and Ranjana got a brace each to their name, while Dangmei Grace, Sumithra and Indumathi Kathiresan got a goal each to their name.

India started off with a bang, as Dangmei Grace put the eves in front on the 7th minute itself. Around 10 minutes later, Sanju added yet another one, before making it 3-0 for India minutes before the half-time break.

The team, led by Indumathi Kathiresan in this match, increased the tempo in the second half, as Grace and Ranjana combined again to add two more. Notably, the 71st-minute goal marked the hat-trick for Sanju, and also the third assist of the match for right-back Dalima Chhibber.

Sumithra, Anju and captain Indumathi added three more goals to take India to double figures in the game. India are next set to face Romania on Sunday (March 3).

India Starting XI: Linthoingambi Devi; Jabamani Tudu, Ashalata Devi, Sweety Devi, Dalima Chhibber; Sangita Basfore, Indumathi Kathiresan (C), Anju Tamang; Sanju, Manisha, Dangmei Grace

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India Head Coach Maymol Rocky believes that the early goal proved to be the undoing of her team, as Uzbekistan bagged the win.

“We were unlucky to concede a goal early on, and that cost us in the end. Our girls showed a lot of heart and played really well against quality opposition like Uzbekistan,” said Maymol. “Perhaps if we had taken our chances, the result may have been different.”

Despite the loss, Maymol took heart from the fact that the team has improved a lot in the last couple of years. “A couple of years back (in April 2017) Uzbekistan had defeated us 7-1. Compared to that, this performance is much better. We will take the positives from this match, and look to iron out the mistakes before our next game against Turkmenistan,” she added.

Uzbekistan got off to an early start after the match kicked-off as Burhanova Malika put the Central Asian nation in the lead in the fourth minute. This provided a lot of momentum to the Uzbek attack, but the defence, along with India keeper Aditi Chauhan, managed to keep them at bay in the early exchanges after the goal.

A 25th-minute substitution by India saw Jabamani Tudu replace Michel Castanha at the left-back position. India mounted a few attacks after this substitution, but the Uzbek defence managed to negotiate them.

The Indian eves came out with more conviction in the second half, with Dangmei Grace looking to use her long-range shooting abilities. Defenders Dalima Chhibber and Sweety Devi came to India’s rescue mid-way through the second half, as they made crucial clearances.

India had the golden chance to draw level with just six minutes of regulation time left on the clock, but striker Anju Tamang missed the target from inside the penalty area. Soon after, Chhibber also failed to hit the target from close range, before the referee brought the match to an end.

India Starting XI: Aditi Chauhan; Sweety Devi, Ashalata Devi, Michel Castanha, Dalima Chhibber; Sangita Basfore (C), Ratanbala Devi, Sanju; Dangmei Grace, Manisha, Indumathi.

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The Indian Women are preparing for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Qualifiers Round 2 in April wherein they are drawn in Group A, pitted against hosts Myanmar, Indonesia and Nepal – who will host the SAFF Women’s Championship in March.

Dubbing the clash as a litmus test, head coach Maymol Rocky said, “Uzbekistan are one of the top teams of Asia and it will be a challenge to face them. They are strong on the counter and we will have to be at our 100 per cent to beat them”

“The Hero Gold Cup was a good opportunity for us to test our permutations and combinations strategically against quality opponents and we will look to do the same in the Turkish Cup with an aim of creating a final iteration as we proceed to the Olympic Qualifiers”

The Indian women had gone on an unbeaten run of five matches including wins over Hong Kong, Indonesia and Iran (in the Hero Gold Cup), but losses against Nepal and Myanmar – both coming in the Hero Gold Cup, have given room for improvement.

“We have worked on our finishing ever since the Hero Gold Cup where we faltered in front of goal. The bright spot in the Gold Cup was that we were creating chances at will and we look to continue that in the Turkish Cup.”

“We are focusing on finishing the chances we create while implementing the game plan,” Maymol added.

The Indian Women had lost 7-1 to Uzbekistan in 2017 in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers. Two years down the road, Ashalata Devi, who played in 2017, believes that the result will be different altogether this time.

“We have developed and evolved into better players by leaps and bounds. We also have tested ourselves against tough opponents and there is no doubt that if we play to the best of our abilities, we can beat Uzbekistan,” said Ashalata.

“It will be a tough match for us but we are prepared for them. We stunned Iran as well (in the Hero Gold Cup) and we have the capacity to defeat some of the best teams if we play to our strengths,” she added.

Meanwhile, the Indian Women will also be facing Turkmenistan and Romania in the Turkish Women’s Cup 2019.

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