India successfully defended their Women's Asian Champions Trophy title with a 1-0 win over China in the thrilling final on Wednesday. The in-form forward Deepika Sehrawat scored the only goal of the game in the third quarter to lead India to a deserving title in Rajgir.
Indian women's hockey team equalled South Korea's record for the most Women's Asian Champions Trophy titles with their third silverware. India previously won the titles in 2016 and 2023 and also equalled South Korea's record to win the back-to-back titles.
Deepika registered her 11th goal of the tournament with a sensational strike from a penalty corner. She was the one to win a penalty for India and then pulled off a stunning drag strike to find the bottom of the corner in the 31st minute.
Both teams proved defensively impossible to penetrate with very few direct chances at the goal at the Bihar Sports University Hockey Stadium. Junon Kawai conceded a penalty with an intentional push on Deepika and it was enough for the host to find the breakthrough.
Deepika also finished as the leading goal-scorer in the eighth edition of the Women's Champions Trophy. Deepika was part of the 2023 title-winning team in Ranchi and claimed the Player of the Tournament award for her brilliant run of form in Rajgir.
India won all of their five group-stage games, including a 3-0 win over China, and then thrashed Japan 2-0 in the semi-final to set the summit clash against the two-time finalists China.
China surprisingly proved the better side in the opening stages with more accurate passing and comparatively better possession. But India were quick to recover and then dominated the final after Deepika's solo goal.
India women starting XI: Savita (GK), Jyoti, Sushila Chanu, Vaishnavi, Lalromsiami, Sharmila Devi, Neha, Salima Test (C), Sangita Kumari, Navneet Kaur, Deepika Sehrawat.
