In her 50th appearance for India, and finally getting to be the No 1 goalkeeper for the Indian women’s hockey team with Savita Punia sidelined, Bichu Devi Kharibam was largely a spectator in Hangzhou. She had scarce involvement in the match either side of Japan’s opening goal in the 10th minute. But when the Cherry Blossoms bloomed in the final quarter, springing to life in the last five minutes, Bichu had to make two massive saves. Suddenly, her evening lit up. And eventually, she was beaten for the second time in the 58th minute by a penalty stroke that saw India go behind 1-2, after dominating possession and carrying significant attacking threat right through the match. A defeat would have been harsh, but a familiar story of missed chances and conceding avoidable goals.
But with 40 seconds left to go on the clock, India upped the ante once more. A penalty corner was won and thwarted, but somehow they stole the back, drove forward to win another one, with milliseconds left on the clock. The whistle from the referee went up just before the final hooter did, so India had the time to take another shot at goal, a ninth PC on the night. Up stepped vice captain Navneet Kaur and fired home a late, late equaliser to rescue a point for India in a thrilling Pool B match against Japan at the Asia Cup. Rutuja Dadaso Pisal (30’) had scored at the stroke of half-time for India’s first equaliser. Meanwhile, for Japan, the goals came in the form of Hiroka Murayama (10’) and Chiko Fujibayashi (58’).
While Bichu had little to do, and did it well, both the Japanese goalkeepers – Yu Kudo and Akio Tanaka – were kept busy through the match. That Tanaka walked away with the player of the match award, having played just two of the four quarters, was a measure of how often India peppered her goal.
An encounter packed with entertainment! 🎯
Both teams pushed hard, but India’s fighting spirit ensured the game ended 2–2. 💪#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #WomensAsiaCup2025 pic.twitter.com/bKQjqi1PeL
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) September 6, 2025
India began the match by winning a series of long corners and free hits. Japan, as they have often against India in the recent past, remained resolute in deep defence to intercept, deflect or tackle the attacking threat. While India did most of the attacking work in the first 10 minutes, the lead went to Japan. A move down their left ended with a couple of lucky breaks in attack saw Murayama tap the ball past Bichu, who got a touch but couldn’t save as the ball trickled into the net in agonising slow motion.
India then forced a sharp double-save from Tanaka after great work from Sunelita Toppo down the left, using her speed to make space and deliver a dangerous pass in. But with Japan down to 10 players, India made their advantage count. Lalremsiami’s pass into the danger area from the edge of the circle saw Tanaka make the initial save but Rutaja reacted sharply to dive and tap the ball into the net off the rebound.
In Q3, Kudo (who had a stunning game at Asian Champions Trophy in Rajgir last year) did her part to frustrate India once more. Navneet reacted quickly to a Japan mistake deep in their defence, dribbled forward and released Sunelita to her right, who reversed the ball back to the vice captain but her shot was saved by Kudo with her feet.
In the final quarter, Tanaka made the save of the night after Siami released Neha down the right flank, and her tomahawk shot on goal from the edge of the circle was palmed away the shotstopper.
That was when they started to make their late charge, after absorbing all the Indian pressure. Bichu’s aforementioned saves were followed by a bizarre phase of play. Neha’s challenge on Miyu Hasegawa inside the circle was adjudged to be a PC, but coach Harendra Singh started signalling from the dugout for India to review it. Later, it appeared that it was a review from the umpire on the field, and it was seen as a bad enough tackle from Neha to be deemed a Penalty Stroke. Bichu couldn’t do much to stop it. Thanks to Navneet, India still had the drive to make sure they didn’t return empty-handed.
