Indian team defeat Thailand 7-2 in a thumping fashion in the final of the inaugural Women's Asian Hockey 5s World Cup Qualifier as they sealed their place in the next year's World Cup in Muscat. Mariana Kujur opened goal-scoring for India in the second minute before Monika Dipi Toppo joined her in the 7th minute. Kujur scored her second in the 8th minute before Jyoti (10th, 27th) skipper Navjot Kaur (23rd) and Mahima Choudhary (29th) also helped increase India's lead.
Kunjira Inpa (5th) and Sanpoung Kornkanok (5th) gave Thailand hope with two goals in less than a minute but the Indian team pounced on them ferociously after that.
Hockey 5s, a shorter version of the national game of India allows four players and a goalkeeper to play per side in a match that lasts 30 minutes with two halves of 15 minutes each with much shorter ground dimensions and other such rules. The inaugural Hockey 5s World Cup will be played from January 24-31 in Muscat next year.
India were on the backfoot with Thailand's two back-to-back goals but Toppo continued her fine form with a sensational field goal to qualise after which it was all India. Kujur struck for the second time the next minute, and then Jyoti helped her side's lead get to 4-2.
Skipper Navjot's goal took India's lead to 5-2. Jyoti became the second player after Kujur to get a brace as India netted their sixth goal before Mahima Choudhary made it 7-2.
Earlier, it was the captain Navjot's hat-trick against Malaysia that helped India qualify for the final with a massive 9-5 win.
Hockey India was quick to announce an INR 2 Lakh award for each player and INR 1 Lakh award for the members of the support staff after the confirmation of qualification for the World Cup.
