India finally tasted victory at the women's hockey World Cup in Madrid as they pipped South Africa 1-0 to earn their first win in seven matches and finish 11th in the prestigious tournament.
In the 11-12 places classification match played last night, Indian women, who had lost five matches and drew one in this edition of the tournament, were propelled by skipper Jyoti Sunita Kullu's lone goal in the 28th minute to emerge victors and save the blushes of finishing with a wooden spoon.
Incidentally, Indian men had an identical win-loss record in the World Cup at Monchengladbach, Germany, last month.
Indian men also defeated South Africa (1-0) in a classification match to finish 11th in the 12-team event.
A lacklustre Indian women's team heaved a sigh of relief when the ace forward put the team ahead through a field goal minutes before the lemon break.
Though the Indians could not bank on several chances afterwards, they managed to hang on to the lead.
The only consolation for India in the tournament was the performance of striker Surinder Kaur, who scored five goals to be among the top goal-scorers in the tournament.
Only Sylvia Karres and Kim Lammers of the Netherlands have netted five goals each to share the top position with Surinder.
Indian women had a disappointing showing in the event as they lost to the Netherlands (3-2), Germany (3-2), Spain (3-2), China (1-0) and Korea (4-1) and drew with England (1-1) before managing the only win against the African champions.
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