Indian eves succumb to third consecutive loss against Britain

The Indian women's hockey team's preparations for the Rio Olympics hit a roadblock as the Ritu Rani-led side lost their third successive match of the five-match Test series 1-2 against Britain here on Friday evening.

The Indians had earlier lost 0-2 in the first match while the England girls thrashed Ritu's side 6-0 in their second outing.

The Indians started the third game by conceding a goal in the first quarter as Joie Leigh opened the scoring for the hosts in the 15th minute.

In the opening minutes of the second quarter, Britain won a penalty corner and converted it via Crista Cullen to go 2-0 up. They managed to keep the scoreboard intact leading into half time.

Going into the third quarter, India won a penalty corner in the 32nd minute which they failed to convert. Defender Deep Grace Ekka then managed to net a goal as India ended the quarter trailing by a single goal.

There were no further goals in the fourth quarter as the match ended with the scoreline reading 2-1 in favour of the home side.

Hailing his team after the match, India's chief coach Neil Hawgood said the girls displayed "improvement" on the field in the third game.

"It was a much improved performance by us. The team played as a unit and worked on the errors from their second match. It's an improvement," he said.

India will play their fourth match of the series on Sunday.

--IANS

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