Women’s hockey world cup: Error-prone India held 1-1 by China

India were held to a 1-1 draw by China in a match in which both teams were jittery, made too many mistakes in the Pool B encounter and struggled for real threats on goal in the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup 2022 here on Tuesday.

Zheng Jiali put China ahead in the 25th minute after a goalless first quarter. Vandana Katariya equalised for India in the 44th minute with a superb deflection off a penalty corner. India survived some anxious moments despite having an extra player on the field in the last five minutes as the match ended in a stalemate.

India will now have to win their last Pool B encounter against New Zealand on Thursday and hope China fail to get the better of England in their final encounter.

It was an intense encounter played at a good pace but both teams made many miss-passes, allowed easy turnovers and showed a lack of creativity and direction in the final third as they played out a second successive draw.

Janneke Schopman’s Indian team was held 1-1 by England in their opening match while China played out a 2-2 draw with New Zealand in the first match.

Both teams were desperate for a win and therefore tried too much and too many things, which eventually resulted in both failing to capitalise on many chances.

India, who had defeated China 7-1 and 2-1 in the FIH Pro League matches in Oman in January this year, were the better team on the field, had more possession of the ball and created more chances. They managed to earn five penalty corners to two by China but could convert only one.