Powered by brilliant hat-tricks from Deepika Sehrawat, Rutuja Dadaso Pisal, and Navneet Kaur, the Indian women’s hockey team crushed Indonesia 17-1 to register their second successive win in Pool B at the Asian Games on Monday. Even though Navneet missed a penalty stroke in the fourth minute, Deepika opened the scoring in the eighth minute through a penalty corner before Sunelita Toppo, Lalremsiami, and Rutuja capitalized on rebounds and field plays to pile up a massive 9-0 lead before the half-time whistle. Indonesia fought back briefly after the change of ends with a penalty corner goal by Innes Aditiya in the 32nd minute, but it did little to stem the tide as India’s aggressive frontline, featuring braces from Sunelita, Lalremsiami, and Sakshi Rana alongside goals from skipper Salima Tete and Ishika Chaudhary, continued scoring at will. Having dominated both of their opening matches following their record 19-0 opener against Uzbekistan, the team remains firmly focused on their ultimate target of winning the gold to secure direct qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics ahead of their upcoming match against Thailand on Wednesday.
