In four group matches, they had conceded only once, that too, against a strong South Korean team. On Friday, as the Indian women took the field against Japan in the final, they were in the hunt for a gold after 36 years.
It was in 1982, when women's hockey was made part of the Asian Games, that the team had won gold. Since then, they have made the final once, in 1998, losing 1-2 to South Korea.
In Jakarta, their male counterparts had dominated every team before falling to Malaysia in a nerve-wracking semifinal, which went into a penalty shootout. They lost 2-2 (7-6). The women would have had that in mind before the match.
Moreover, earlier in the Games, the Indian men had lost their kabaddi crown when they went down to Iran in the semifinal. The women had gone to the final, but lost to Iran again. It was a result that the female hockey players would not have wanted to repeat.
It was back and forth for the first ten minutes, with the game being played in both halves. The Indian fans were, as expected, more vocal. India won its first penalty corner in the 10th minute, but failed to convert into goal. Navneet Kaur took it, but Gurjit Kaur hit it wide. Within a minute, the Japanese got their first penalty corner, and successfully converted it. Minami Shimizu scored.
In the second quarter, Japan kept attacking, and also kept ball possession. For the first five minutes, the ball was rarely in Japan's half. In the next ten minutes, the Indians moved close to the Japanese goal, but were dispossessed. At 21:43, India finally equalised through Neha Goyal, who stuck out the stick to direct the ball that was passed to her by Navneet Kaur.
In the third quarter, India started positively, and kept moving forward. In the 36th and 37th minute, the Japanese goalkeeper saved two shots. In the 41st and 44th minute, Japan, had two shots on goal, which were saved. In the final minute of the quarter, Japan won its second penalty corner, and once again converted it to take a 2-1 lead. Motomi Kawamura scored with a reverse flick.
The fourth quarter saw India chasing from the start. Though they kept the pressure, some haphazard passing made it difficult to score. The Japanese fought hard to keep the ball. On at least four occasions, the Japanese girls had possession at the right corner of India's half, but did not try to attack. They kept the ball for as long as they could. India, for their part, did not clear properly. With two minutes left, India withdrew the goalkeeper, but it did not make a difference. The whistle blew, and Japan won the gold in women's hockey. It was kabaddi all over again.