Top-scorer Deepika's incredible performances help India lift Women's Junior Asia Cup 2024 title

Bengaluru (Karnataka)[India], December 16 : The Indian Junior Women's squad have made it back to India after successfully defending the Women's Junior Asia Cup title in Muscat Oman. India defeated heavyweights China 1-1 (3-2 SO) in the Final to emerge victorious and lift the coveted trophy again.
Star drag-flicker Deepika played a tremendous role in India's title-winning campaign as she ended the tournament as the top scorer with 12 goals to her name, five coming from penalty corners.
India finished second in Pool A, also consisting of China, Malaysia, Thailand, and Bangladesh. India had a dominant Pool stage as they recorded big wins against Malaysia, Bangladesh and Thailand. Deepika was the star performer during the Pool stage as she opened the tournament with back-to-back hattricks and had recorded 11 goals in the opening four matches already. Their only loss in the tournament came in a 2-1 defeat against China in which Deepika was the lone goal scorer for India.
India faced Pool B winners, Japan in the semi-final, who had scored 38 goals in the last four matches and were in peak form. Despite the stats backing Japan, India breezed past them with a comfortable 3-1 win and sealed their spot in the final courtesy of goals from Sakshi Rana, Mumtaz Khan and Deepika.
In the final, China drew first blood courtesy of an unfortunate penalty stroke in the second quarter. India however, bounced back with Kanika Siwach scoring the crucial equaliser in the third quarter. The game went into a penalty shootout which India won 3-2 and were crowned champions. Goalkeeper Nidhi stole the spotlight with three clutch saves in the shootout against Lihang Wang, Jingyi Li and Dandan Zuo and helped her side prevail over the Chinese. Thanks to the stellar performances in the Women's Junior Asia Cup, India has also sealed its spot in the FIH Junior World Cup 2025, to be held in Chile.
India's leading goalscorer Deepika was over the moon after winning the title and said, "Really happy that I managed to score as many goals but it wouldn't have been possible without the help of my teammates. Every player in the camp has worked extremely hard and without everyone's effort, we wouldn't have been able to win the title. Thanks to the other forwards, we won a lot of penalty corners and I was able to convert them into goals."
"Some of the young players have incredible potential and I am sure they will build on the team's success," she added.
Captain Jyoti Singh led her side to an incredible title defence and she was elated with her team's performance. She said, " I am happy that the team's hard work in training has finally paid off. We hardly put a foot wrong throughout the tournament and I am proud of my teammates for performing at such a high level. Facing China in the final was a challenge but we gave it our all on the pitch and got the trophy back home."
"Deepika did a fantastic job with the goals. Kanika Siwach, Sunelita Toppo and Mumtaz Khan also did well in the attack and supported Deepika in her scoring spree. Couldn't be more proud about the team's performances up front."