India, Dec 02 : The Indian junior women’s hockey team kicked off their FIH Junior Women’s World Cup campaign in Santiago with a dominant 13-0 triumph over Namibia at the Centro Deportivo de Hockey Césped, Estadio Nacional on Monday.
Brilliant Team Performance
Hina Bano (35’, 36’, 45’) and Kanika Siwach (12’, 30’, 45’) both scored hat-tricks, while Sakshi Rana (10’, 23’) netted a brace. Additional goals came from Binima Dhan (14’), Sonam (14’), Sakshi Shukla (27’), Ishika (36’), and Manisha (60’). With this emphatic victory, India surged to the top of the group standings.
India dominated from the outset, registering an early shot on target within the first thirty seconds and forcing a save from the Namibian goalkeeper. The team’s early pressure paid off with four quick goals in the first fifteen minutes: Sakshi Rana opened the scoring (10’), Kanika Siwach (12’), Binima Dhan (14’), and Sonam (14’) all found the net to give India a 4-0 lead.
Sustained Dominance
India maintained their superiority through the second quarter. Sakshi Rana added her second goal (23’), Sakshi Shukla converted a Penalty Corner (27’), and Kanika Siwach struck again at half-time (30’), taking the lead to 7-0.
The second half saw Hina Bano score a quick double (35’, 36’) and Ishika added another (36’). Both Hina Bano and Kanika Siwach completed their hat-tricks (45’), leaving India 12-0 ahead after three quarters. Manisha sealed the victory in the final minute (60’), concluding India’s 13-0 win.
Next Fixture
India will face Germany on December 3 at 19:45 IST in their second group-stage match.