India lose 1-4 to China, miss out on direct women's hockey World Cup berth
Hangzhou (China), Sep 14 (PTI): The Indian women's hockey team faltered when it mattered the most, losing 1-4 to China in the final of Asia Cup to miss out on direct qualification for next year's World Cup, here on Sunday.
India drew the first blood through a penalty corner conversion by Navneet Kaur in the very first minute itself before China came into their own, scoring through Zixia Ou (21st minute), Hong Li (41st), Meirong Zou (51st) and Jiaqi Zhong (53rd) to win their third title in tournament and secure their passage to the 2026 World Cup, to be held in Belgium and Netherlands.
India got their first scoring chance within 39 seconds of the start of the match in the form of a penalty corner and Navneet was on target to hand her side an early lead.
Three minutes later, China had a bright chance to draw level when they earned back-to-back penalty corners, but the Indians defended brilliantly.
Stunned by the early goal, China went on the offensive and mounted continuous raids on the Indian half, but the Salima Tete-led side held its ground stoutly.
The Chinese kept up their relentless pressure on the Indian citadel and earned another set of penalty corners two minutes into the second quarter but failed to breach the resolute opposition defence.
China created chances after chances, keeping the ball almost in the Indian circle but were unable to find the equaliser.
The home team's relentless pressure finally paid off as it secured the equaliser in he 21st minute through a penalty corner conversion by Zixia Ou.
The equaliser seemed to have lifted the morale of China as they continuously pushed for the lead, keeping the India defence under tremendous pressure. However, both the teams went into half-time break locked at 1-1.
China, though, were the more dominant side in the first half.
India switched gears after the change of ends and played attacking hockey, albeit without much success as the Chinese defence was at its best, keeping the ball away from their circle.
Meanwhile, China's persistent attacks finally paid dividends when Hong Li scored a fine field goal from a counter attack four minutes from the third quarter.
Trailing by a goal, the Indians, ranked ninth in the world, pressed hard for the all-important equaliser in the fourth and final quarter but failed to breach the Chinese defence.
The Chinese extended their lead by pumping in two more goals in a span of two minutes to take the tie away from India and secure their title.
In the 51st minute Meirong Zou scored from a field effort and then Jiaqi Zhong added another field goal two minutes later to take a comfortable lead.
China had earlier won the Asia Cup in 1989 in Hong Kong and 2009 in Bangkok.
India were done in by the subdued performance of their strike force in the final as the likes of Mumtaz Khan, Lalremsiami, and Sunelita Toppo failed to rise to the occasion after decent outings in the earlier matches.
India will now have to go through the World Cup Qualifiers to seal their place in the top global event.
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Ready to face no-confidence motion, says Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah
Hassan (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said that the Congress government led by him was ready to face the no-confidence motion if moved by the opposition during the legislature session from December 8.
With Deputy CM D K Shivakumar by his side, he reiterated that they would both abide by the high command's decision on the leadership issue.
"Let them (opposition) bring in a no-confidence motion or adjournment motion or any other motion. We are ready to face it. Ours is an open book, transparent government. We are ready to face anything," Siddaramaiah said in response to a question.
However, BJP state President B Y Vijayendra and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka, clarified that the party, along with the JD(S) has not discussed or decided anything so far regarding moving a no-confidence motion against the government.
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The winter session of the Karnataka legislature will begin in Belagavi, bordering Maharashtra, on December 8 and will go on till 19th of this month.
Not wanting to react to a question on the leadership issue, the CM said the Congress high command is very strong.
"D K Shivakumar and I will be committed to whatever the high command decides," he said.
Earlier in the day in Bengaluru, Shivakumar accompanied AICC Mallikarjun Kharge till airport from Vidhana Soudha, after paying tributes to B R Ambedkar on his 69th death anniversary, which had led to some speculation about possible discussion between the two on the leadership issue.
The power tussle within the ruling party had intensified amid speculation about a change in chief minister in the state, after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20.
However, both the CM and Deputy CM had recently held breakfast meetings at each others residences, on the instructions of the high command, which is seen as a move to pause the leadership tussle between the two and to signal Siddaramaiah's continuation as the CM for the time being, especially ahead of the Belagavi legislature session.
