India kept their quarter-final hopes alive in the junior hockey World Cup with a 2-0 win over New Zealand, riding on Manjit Kaur and Vandana Kataria’s strikes in the second half, on Sunday.
After a humiliating 1-6 drubbing in their opening match against Australia, the Indian girls did a much better job on the day.
After a barren first half, Manjit opened the scoring for India in the 45th minute with a field goal.
Vandana doubled the lead six minutes later and that stayed with India till the end of the matc despitethe best efforts of their opponents.
India’s next opponents in Pool C are Russia, who have lost both their matches so far, while Australia lock horns with New Zealand on Tuesday.
Australia are on top of the table with six points from two wins, while New Zealand and India have three points each but the Kiwis are placed second due to better goal difference.
The top two teams from the group will qualify for the quarter-finals.