The Indian women’s ice hockey team registered its first victory ever in an international match on Thursday by beating Philippines at the Challenge Cup of Asia fixture held in Bangkok.
The score after fulltime read 4-3 in favour of India and there was very little to choose between the teams.
After the first period remained goalless, it was India which drew first blood. The second period ended with India having a 1-0 advantage.
Unlike the first two periods, the third period saw frenetic goalmouth activity with both the teams scoring three goals each. Chuskit and Dolma were amongst the scorers for India.
India had lost its first match against UAE 4-6 on Tuesday.
Women’s ice hockey is a much-neglected sport in India and the team went to the tournament without any financial help forthcoming from the government.
The team had to rely on more than 3000 donors who contributed in a crowdfunding platform for training, accommodation, air fares, visa, team jersey, and equipment.
Largescale corporate sponsorships elude the sport, which is mostly played in Kashmir’s Leh, Ladakh and Kargil districts.
The Indian women's team had earlier participated in the IIHF Ice Hockey Challenge Cup of Asia held at Chinese Taipei in 2016 but had returned without a win.
The IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia is a series of international ice hockey tournaments held in Asia. The purpose of the tournament is to provide competitive opportunities for Asian teams that are either in the lower divisions of the IIHF World Championship or do not compete in the World Championship. The event was first held in Hong Kong in 2008.