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The Indian women’s hockey team began their Australia tour on a tough note after losing to their A team 3-5 in their opening match on Saturday, April 26, in the city of Perth in Western Australia state. After going behind by four goals at the start of the second quarter, the Indian women’s hockey team improved their performance drastically as the match progressed further, but they weren’t able to overhaul the lead of Australia A at the Perth Hockey Stadium.
It was Australia A, who opened the scoring in the third minute with Neasa Flynn before two goals from Olivia Downes (9th minute) and Ruby Harris (11th minute), made it 3-0 at the first quarter break. Tatum Stewart made it 4-0 for Australia A in the 21st minute before the Indian women’s hockey team started to open their shoulders in the attacking third, scoring the opening goal on the day through Salima Tete, making it 1-4.
After the conclusion of the half-time stage, Kendra Fitzpatrick made it 5-1 in favour of Australia in the 44th minute, keeping their four-goal lead intact, but then, in the next minute, Indian vice-captain Navneet Singh scored off a counter-attack. In the fourth and final quarter, the Indian women’s hockey team also pulled one more goal back when Lalremsiami got her name on the scoresheet in the 50th minute, making it 3-5 for her team, but it wasn't enough as Australia A emerged victorious eventually.
Indian players wore black armbands as mark of solidarity with victims of Pahalgam terror attack
As a mark of solidarity with victims of the Pahalgam terror attack, the Indian women’s hockey players wore black armbands during their first match against Australia A, and they are planning to do the same in the remainder of their tour down under. India’s second match on the tour to Australia will also happen versus the A team on Sunday, April 27, following which, there will be a three-match series against the senior team.
