PM Narendra Modi hails India's junior women's hockey team for lifting maiden Asia Cup title

New Delhi [India], June 18 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated India's women's junior hockey team for lifting their maiden Women's Junior Asia Cup in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, Japan.

PM Modi lauded the Indian women's team for their exceptional performances in the tournament in the 102nd episode of Mann ki Baat.

"This month, many great news has come for India from the sports world. The Indian team has increased the glory of the tricolour by winning the women's Junior Asia Cup for the first time. This month our Men's Hockey Team won the Junior Asia Cup, along with this we have also become the winning team in the history of this tournament," said PM Narendra Modi in the 102nd episode of Mann ki Baat.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated Team India for achieving this feat and took to Twitter to laud the Indian women's team for their hard work and exceptional performances in the tournament.

"Congratulations to our young champions on winning the 2023 Women's Hockey Junior Asia Cup! The team has shown immense perseverance, talent and teamwork. They have made our nation very proud. Best wishes to them for their endeavours ahead," PM Modi had said in a tweet after victory.

India defeated South Korea 2-1 in the final. The Indian team started the match on an attacking note, winning a penalty corner in the opening minute of the game but they failed to capitalise on it.

However, Korea shifted the momentum in their favour by counter-attacking and controlling the possession. They also won an early penalty corner but Neelam made a goal-line clearance to deny Korea from taking the lead. Despite both teams playing an attacking game, the first quarter ended goalless.

Korea stuck to their attacking approach in the second quarter as well thus pushing India on backfoot. Korea were also awarded quite a few penalty corners. However, India not only stood strong in defence to keep the opposition's attackers at bay but also put Korea under pressure by taking the lead through Annu (22') who calmly converted a penalty stroke.

However, India's lead didn't last long as Seoyeon Park (25') scored an equaliser for Korea through a well-placed shot from inside the D. The second quarter didn't witness any more goals as both teams went into the half-time break with the score level at 1-1.

The second half of the match started with Korea focused on keeping the possession, while the Indian team switched to counter-attacking and it paid off as Neelam (41') brilliantly converted a penalty corner to put India in front as the third quarter ended with the score 2-1 in favour of the Indian team.

In order to protect their lead, India shifted their focus on defending and controlling the tempo of the game by keeping possession in the fourth quarter, while, on the other hand, Korea made some forced errors and misdirected passes in their desperation of finding an equaliser. Ultimately, India stood strong and stuck to their strategy to win the summit clash 2-1.