Indian junior womens hockey team concludes UK exposure tour with three wins

The Indian junior women's hockey team wrapped up its seven-match UK exposure tour with three wins, three losses, and a shootout defeat. Captain Shileima Chanu Khaidem hailed the tour as vital preparation ahead of the Junior Asia Cup

The Indian Junior Women’s Hockey Team concluded its successful exposure tour of the United Kingdom after playing seven high-intensity matches against Scotland Senior Women, USA Under-21, England Under-21 and Belgium Under-21.
The tour provided the young Indian side with valuable international experience ahead of upcoming major junior competitions.

India finished the tour with three victories, three defeats and one shootout loss, showcasing resilience, attacking intent and steady improvement against quality opposition.

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The tour began in Edinburgh with two closely fought encounters against the Scotland Senior Women’s team. While India narrowly went down 2–3 in the opening match, the second match saw Scotland claim a 3–1 victory. Shashi Khasa scored India’s lone goal, while Bronwyn Shields, Zara Kennedy and Charlotte Watson were on target for Scotland.

The team, however, bounced back in its third match, registering a commanding 6–0 victory over the USA U-21. Sukhveer Kaur starred with a brace, while Kajal, Shashi Khasa, Purnima Yadav and Puja Sahoo also contributed to the scoresheet in India’s most dominant performance of the tour.

India carried that momentum into the next match against England U-21, securing a clinical 2–0 win courtesy of goals from Binima Dhan and Roshni Aind.

The fifth match saw India battle the USA U-21 to a 1–1 draw after Puja Sahoo converted a penalty corner for India before Reese Anetsberger equalised for the USA through a penalty stroke. The Americans edged the shootout 3–2 despite successful Indian conversions from Shashi Khasa and Geeta Yadav.

India bounced back strongly with another impressive 2–0 victory over England U-21, as Krishna Sharma and Purnima Yadav scored field goals to complete a second win over the hosts during the tour.

In their final outing, India fought hard before narrowly losing 1–2 to Belgium U-21. Louise Van Herendael and Romanie Verhaeghe scored for Belgium, while Sukhveer Kaur pulled one back late in the contest for India.

Across the seven matches, the Indian Junior Women’s team displayed encouraging progress, with several players delivering standout performances in both attack and defence. The tour offered the squad an opportunity to test themselves against some of the strongest junior and senior international teams while gaining valuable experience in different match situations.

Speaking on the conclusion of the tour, Captain Shileima Chanu Khaidem said: “This tour has been a fantastic learning experience for all of us. Playing against strong international teams with different styles of hockey challenged us to adapt quickly and improve with every match. We have taken a lot of confidence from our performances, especially the way we bounced back after difficult results. These matches have helped us understand the areas where we are doing well and where we still need to improve. As a team, we are now looking forward to carrying these learnings into our preparations for the Women’s Junior Asia Cup in China. The experience we have gained here will be invaluable as we work towards achieving our goals later this year.”

*Results*

India vs Scotland – 2–3 – Scotland

27′ Amy Costello
38′ Zara Kennedy
55′ Heather McEwan
India

42′ Sukhveer Kaur
57′ Kajal

India vs Scotland – 1–3- Scotland

7′ Bronwyn Shields
11′ Zara Kennedy
56′ Charlotte Watson
India

38′ Shashi Khasa

India vs USA – 6–0- India

13′, 19′ Sukhveer Kaur
42′ Kajal
44′ Shashi Khasa
54′ Purnima Yadav
57′ Puja Sahoo

India vs England – 2–0- India

2′ Binima Dhan
45′ Roshni Aind

India vs USA – 1–1 (USA won 3–2 in shootout)

Field Goals

India – 15′ Puja Sahoo (PC)
USA – 46′ Reese Anetsberger (PS)
Shootout

India – Shashi Khasa, Geeta Yadav
USA – Reese Anetsberger, Taylor Bigbie, Lilly Ricks

India vs England – 2–0

India

6′ Krishna Sharma
39′ Purnima Yadav

India vs Belgium – 1–2

Belgium

35′ Louise Van Herendael
48′ Romanie Verhaeghe
India

57′ Sukhveer Kaur