The Indian women's hockey team impressed in defence but couldn't stop Germany from winning their third consecutive game in the four-match series here in Dusseldorf on Tuesday.
World No. 3 Germany won by a 2-0 margin through goals from Sonja Zimmermann (26') and Franzisca Hauke (42').
Encouraged by their robust defensive display in the second game of the series, the Indian side continued to frustrate the German attackers. The hosts were unable to create any early momentum and had a penalty corner saved in the first quarter.
While Germany pushed forward to break the deadlock, the Indian backline stood firm yet again. Germany was awarded a PC early into the second quarter but still couldn't find a way past the Indian women's hockey team's defence. The team managed to keep out three PCs in the previous game too.
Germany ended India's resistance in form of a goal from the third PC. This time, defender Zimmermann made no mistake as the Word No. 3 side started the third quarter with a lead.
Germany doubled their advantage shortly before the end of the third quarter with seasoned midfielder Hauke getting on the scoresheet. The German side held on to complete their third successive win.
The Indian women's hockey team will take on Germany in their fourth match on Thursday.
On Sunday, the Indian men's hockey team led by PR Sreejesh put up a scintillating show as they outclassed hosts Germany 6-1 in the first of their four-match Europe tour.
India's goal scorers were Nilakanta Sharma (13'), Vivek Sagar Prasad (27', 28'), Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (41'), Akashdeep Singh (42'), and Harmanpreet Singh (47'), who outplayed the hosts and led their team to a winning start in their first international match in over 12 months.
( With inputs from ANI )
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