India end Spanish tour with a 4-1 win over hosts
Goals from Rani Rampal and Gurjit Kaur helped India to beat Spain 4-1 as they ended their Spanish tour by winning four of the five matches that they played against the host team. The final match was conducted at the Consejo Superior de Deportes Hockey Stadium in Madrid on Monday.
In the final match, IndiaÂ
It was as early as in the second minute that forward Vandana Katariya tested Spain's goalkeeper Maria Ruiz, but was well saved by the safe hands. Ruiz was quite efficient in between the sticks as India had already won two consecutive penalty corners in the initial five minutes of the match but couldn't find a breakthrough.
Though Spain could not attempt to make any significant goal opportunities themselves in the game during the second quarter, they were able to defend themselves by saving some clear goal opportunities by India. In the third quarter, Rani stepped up her game and it did have an impact as she quickly converted a precise pass by midfielder Namita Toppo into a goal in the 33rd minute.
Four minutes later, Rani Rampal gained a second opportunity to score and didn't make any mistake whatsoever as India were seen leading the match 2-0. Kaur added to the score next, converting a penalty corner in the 44th minute to make the score 3-0. Two penalty corners were won by India in the last quarter and while the Spanish defense was able to deal with the first one, the second one was converted by Kaur. Lola Riera was the only one who scored a goal for Spain.
