India was tied 1-1 by China in Pool B at the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup here on Tuesday.
Jiali Zhang gave China the lead in the 26th minute, and Vandana Katariya equalized India in the 45th minute.
India drew 1–1 against Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist England in the opening match of their tournament. The Indians had the better share of possession in the first two quarters and had more chances, but their efforts did not yield any results.
On the other hand, the Chinese waited for retaliatory strikes to breach the Indian defence. Navneet Kaur had the first shot at goal in the ninth minute after combining well with Vandana Katariya, but Chinese goalkeeper Liu Ping saved her effort.
In the 23rd minute, India came close to scoring, but the goalpost came to China’s rescue. Jyotika seemed to have found the net from the resultant rebound, but the goal was disallowed after a referral.
India soon secured their first penalty corner but failed to capitalise on it. China took the lead against the run of play through Jiali Zheng, who shot past Savita Punia after receiving a pass from Xindan Zhang.
Two minutes later, India earned another penalty corner, but Ping saved Monika’s try as China went into the half-time break with a slender one-goal lead.
After the change of ends, China came out on an aggressive note and secured their first penalty corner in the 33rd minute, but Bingfeng Gu’s flick went wide.