The second mini-tournament of the Women's FIH Hockey Pro League season 5 got under way in Bhubaneswar, India on Saturday, featuring hosts India, USA, China, Australia and the Netherlands.
Netherlands took on United States in the opening encounter of the day, and registered an emphatic 7-0 victory, which extends their winning streak, to start the 2023/24 season to five games!
Later in the evening, China came from behind to win 2-1 and claim their first ever FIH Hockey Pro League victory over India.
(Women’s) Netherlands 7 – 0 USA
The Dutch were patient in the first half, Luna Fokke firing one in after some good interplay along the left baseline in the 13th minute, and Pien Dicke making it two a minute later with similar interplay along the right baseline. The USA defended well for a goalless second quarter to trail 2-0 at half-time, but the Dutch were very much in control and it was no surprise when they picked up the intensity in the second half.
The third goal came as Dutch pressure induced an error for their opposition. Dicke intercepted a high-risk pass at the top of the circle and had all the time in the world to pick her spot. More impressive interplay set Dicke up for a tap-in to complete her hat-trick and the USA found themselves under siege, Kealsie Robles being called on repeatedly in the American goal. Dicke was quickest to the pads off a penalty corner rebound for her fourth goal, and Yibbi Jansen closed out the scoring with two confidently executed penalty strokes in the dying minutes. With that, Jansen’s tournament tally grew to seven goals to keep the newly introduced top scorer’s armband, but after Saturday’s match, Dicke is hot on her heels with five goals.
A delighted Pien Dicke was named player of the match and said: “It was really nice to play in this stadium for the first time and I really enjoyed it.”
(Women’s) China 2 - 1 India
China came from behind in a gritty performance to beat India 2-1 in their encounter. The first half was evenly contested, Vandana Katariya opening the scoring for India in a welcome return to action after a fractured cheekbone kept her out of the Olympic qualifiers in January. But India lacked accuracy and failed to extend their lead despite having the ascendancy in the first half.
The match was in the balance through the second half with China’s Dan Wen creating problems for the Indians, and her scrambled equaliser in the 40th minute set up a tense finish. China won a flurry of penalty corners in the 51st minute, Bingfeng Gu finally latching onto a rebound from the fifth attempt to give China a 2-1 lead. Savita’s heroics in goal for India kept her team within striking range until the final whistle but they couldn’t find a way back.
Dan Wen was named player of the match for China and said afterwards: “I’m really very happy we won the game and also we played very well, the whole team for the whole game, so it was very exciting.”
To see the current standings in the FIH Hockey Pro League, click here.
FIH Hockey Pro League – 3 February 2024
Kalinga Hockey Stadium, Bhubaneswar, India (IND)
Result: Women’s Match 7
USA 0 – 7 Netherlands
Player of the Match: Pien Dicke (NED)
Umpires: Xiaoying Liu (CHN), Kelly Hudson (NZL), Rawi Anbananthan (MAS-video)
Result: Women’s Match 8
China 2 - 1 India
Player of the Match: Dan Wen (CHN)
Umpires: Zeke Newman (AUS), James Unkles (AUS), Raghu Prasad (IND-video)
