The Indian women's hockey team squandered a two-goal lead and lost 2-3 to Japan in the play-off for the bronze medal of the 2nd Women Asian Champions Trophy here Saturday.
Striker Vandana Kataria put India ahead in the seventh minute while Rani Rampal converted an indirect penalty corner to double the score in the 28th minute.
Japan bounced back after the break and scored through Rika Komazawa (52nd min penalty corner) and Kaori Fujio (63rd min) to make it 2-2 at full time. Ai Murakami scored the golden goal from a penalty stroke (76th min).
India's performance in this match was their best in the tournament. Japan had routed India 5-0 in their round robin preliminary.
