CHENNAI: Till the 47th minute of the semifinal between India and Japan at the women’s Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Rajgir, India had tried everything to get past the Japanese goalkeeper, Yu Kudo. As many as 12 penalty corners were earned but India could not score a goal. The play was mostly inside the Japanese half as the Indian defense was hardly tested, but still, India had no goals to show.

Skipper Salima Tete’s attempt was derailed by Kudo, so were a few attempts by Navneet Kaur, Sangeeta Kumari and the tournament’s highest goal-scorer, Deepika. In the second quarter, India had the opportunity to score a goal with three back-to-back penalty corners but failed to break the concentration of the Japanese goalkeeper. There came a time in the third quarter when Deepika had a chance to increase her goal tally of the tournament, but she shot wide to squander the opportunity.

The crowd at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium had witnessed the goal fest earlier in the tournament and also a flurry of goals in the group stage match against Japan a few days ago, but Kudo’s performance had them worried. In the 47th minute, India secured their 12th penalty corner of the day but the story remained the same. It felt like the only way the deadlock could have ended was either a penalty stroke or a penalty shootout.

And that is what happened. In the very next move, Deepika was fouled in the circle and India were awarded a penalty stroke. Japan tried to review the on-field umpire’s decision but it did not help their cause. By then, Kudo was tested enough and here again she was in the thick of things. This time Navneet made no mistake as she finally broke the deadlock. The full house in Rajgir erupted to acknowledge the efforts.