Hockey girls bag World Cup bronze
Forward Rani Rampal was the star performer as India clinched their first ever medal in the Junior Women’s Hockey World Cup. India defeated a gritty England 3-2 (1-1) via sudden death in the third place playoff in Monchengladbach , Germany, on Sunday evening.
Rampal, who had earlier scored in regulation time, struck twice in the penalty shootout as India notched up their best-ever finish in the quadrennial event, bettering the ninth place finish in the 2009 edition.
In the final, Holland defeated Argentina 4-2 (11) on penalties.
Rampal converted the first chance for India in the shootout, while Navjot Kaur, Vandana Katariya, Navneet Kaur and Poonam Rani missed out.
Goalkeeper Bigan Soy stood like a rock as England too faltered on four of their five chances, forcing the game into sudden death.
This time, Rampal and Navneet converted successfully to hand India the bronze. Earlier, the teams were locked 1-1 in regulation time. Said coach Neil Hawgood, “It means a lot to our kids’ psychology that they can actually win a medal.
They have never been in those games before.
“We practised shootouts, so I thought we would score more than three out of seven. Our goalkeeper Bigan Soy, who never played a minute the whole tournament, did a great job,” he added.
PTI adds: Hockey India (HI) secretary general Narinder Batra today announced that each member of India’s junior women hockey team which won the country’s first ever bronze medal at the World Cup will be rewarded with a cash prize of `1 lakh.
“Each player of the Indian junior women's team will receive a cah reward of `1 lakh, while the support staffs will be rewarded with `50,000 each,“ Batra said.
India's chief coach Neil Hawgood will also receive a cash reward of `1 lakh for guiding the team, Batra said.
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