Indian eves spank Malaysia 5-0 in first match of Test Series

Forward Rani struck twice as the Indian Women's Hockey team thrashed Malaysia by a huge margin of 5-0 in their opening match of the six-Test series, here today.
The six-match test series against Malaysia is part of the preparations for the Commonwealth Games 2014.
Rani (19 min and 50 min), Ritu Rani (27 min), Gurjit Kaur (42 min) and Ritusha Arya (67 min) were the goal-scorer for India, while Malaysia drew a blank.
The Indian team looked fully composed and were on an attacking spree right from the start and did not allow the opponents overpower the game in the entire match.

Forward player Rani scored the first goal in the 19th minute, while the second goal was scored by Captain Ritu Rani in the 27th minute through a brilliant field goal as India went into half time with a 2-0 lead.
The Indian eves started the second half with lot of enthusiasm and kept the attack on the opponents.

In the 42nd minute, defender Gurjit Kaur, who was playing her debut match, got a penalty corner which she successfully converted giving India a lead of 3-0.
In the 50th minute, India again struck through the stick of Rani taking the lead to 4-0.

Malaysia tried to make a comeback but goalkeeper Savita Punia did not allow any goals to be converted by the opponents.
In the dying minutes of the game, India struck the final blow in the 67th minute when forward Ritusha Arya scored the fifth goal to give India a comfortable win.
Captain Ritu Rani said: "It always feels great to win and winning a match with such a margin keeps up the momentum and confidence of the team.
"It was a slow start in the first half but the team came back attacking in the second half allowing us to take a comfortable win today.

"This win will boost our confidence in the tournament ahead and also will help for the upcoming Commonwealth Games and Asian Games 2014," she added.
India will play their next match tomorrow with Malaysia at 15:30 hours (IST).