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Sonu Upadhyaya.

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The Indian hockey team clinched the Women’s Junior Asia Cup 2023 title in Kakamigahara, Japan, with a 2-1 win over the Republic of Korea in the final on Sunday.

This is the first time India have won the Women's Junior Asia Cup. India had already secured a spot in the FIH Women's Junior World Cup 2023 in Chile. Japan beat China 2-1 to become the third team to qualify for the World Cup scheduled this year.

For India, Annu (21') and Neelam (40’) were on target while Seoyeon Park (24’) scored the solitary goal for Korea.

India started the game on an attacking note by winning a penalty corner in the opening minute of the game but they failed to capitalise on it. However, Korea resorted to counter-attacks and controlled the possession. Despite both teams playing attacking hockey, the first quarter ended goalless.

Korea stuck to their approach in the second quarter and pushed India on the back foot. However, India took the lead through Annu who converted via a penalty stroke.

India’s lead, however, didn’t last long as Seoyeon Park scored an equaliser for Korea via a field goal. The second quarter didn’t witness any more goals as both teams went into the half-time break with the scores levelled at 1-1.

The second half of the match started with Korea maintaining possession while the Indian team switched to counter-attacks and it paid off as Neelam 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.