The Indian women's team defeated America 5–1 in the match played under the Tokyo Olympic qualifier. In the match played at Odisha's Kalinga Hockey Stadium, the Indian women came out heavy and won by a big margin of 5-1. Gurjit Kaur scored two goals in India's victory, while Lilima Minz, Sharmila Devi and Salima Tete scored one each. With this victory, the Indian women's hockey team has come close to qualifying for the Olympics. The second qualifier match between the two teams will be played on Saturday.
According to media reports, the first half of the match was touched on par. Players from both teams were unable to score goals. Before the second half ended, Lilima Minz scored a goal in the 29th minute to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. The second goal for India was scored by Sharmila Devi in the 40th minute. A penalty corner found in the 42nd minute was converted into a goal by Gurjit Kaur to give India a 3-0 lead.
In this interesting match, the American team was struggling for a comeback that in the meanwhile, in the 46th minute, Salima Tete put the ball in the net and gave India a 4-0 lead. Gurjit Kaur scored the fifth goal for India. This goal was met with a penalty stroke. In this match, the Indian team was completely dominating America. Although the US team tried to come back in between, they could not get any special success. Irene Mattson scored the only goal for the opposition team in the 54th minute. Both teams will be face to face once again on Saturday. If the Indian women's team wins this match, then it will directly qualify for the Olympics.
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