India’s Junior Women’s Hockey Team delivered a commanding performance, defeating Ireland 4-0 in their final Pool C match at the FIH Junior Women’s World Cup in Santiago’s Centro Deportivo de Hockey Cesped, Estadio Nacional.Purnima Yadav scored twice, while Kanika Siwach and Sakshi Rana contributed one goal each to secure India’s victory.The match began with India showing aggressive intent, earning a penalty corner within the first 12 seconds, though they couldn’t convert it. A second penalty corner opportunity in the tenth minute also went unconverted.India’s persistence paid off when Kanika Siwach successfully scored in the 12th minute, receiving a well-timed pass from Sakshi Rana and manoeuvring past Ireland’s goalkeeper to find the open net. The Indian team maintained their momentum, securing two consecutive penalty corners in the 17th and 23rd minutes. However, Irish goalkeeper Lucy McGoldrick made impressive saves to deny both attempts.Ireland’s first goal attempt came in the 24th minute but was thwarted by India’s goalkeeper. India earned their fifth penalty corner in the 28th minute but couldn’t capitalise on it, ending the first half with a 1-0 lead. The third quarter saw India controlling possession and testing Ireland’s defence. Manisha’s precise pass to Sukhveer Kaur in the 40th minute nearly resulted in a goal, but the shot went slightly over the post. India extended their lead in the 42nd minute when Purnima Yadav successfully converted a penalty corner, deflecting Sakshi Shukla’s strong pass into the net.In the fourth quarter, Ireland’s Eabha Curran attempted to score, aiming for the bottom-right corner, but Nandini’s well-timed block prevented the goal.The final minutes saw India score twice in quick succession. Sakshi Rana displayed impressive skills in the 57th minute, bypassing defenders to score with a powerful shot into the bottom corner.Purnima Yadav sealed the victory in the 58th minute with her second goal, skillfully deflecting the ball over the goalkeeper to make it 4-0.
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