Revisiting India’s 0-4 semi-final loss to China at Hangzhou ahead of Aichi-Nagoya rematch
On the evening of October 5, 2023, India lost 0-4 to China in the women's hockey semi-final at the Hangzhou Asian Games. The defeat ended India’s gold-medal hopes at those Games and cost them the direct route to the Paris 2024 Olympics.
India arrived in Hangzhou as the top seed, having progressed comfortably through the early rounds and sitting a win away from a gold-medal match before meeting the hosts. India were ranked seventh in the world at the time and had won silver at the previous Asian Games; China had taken bronze in 2018 and enjoyed home advantage in 2023.
China dominated early through set-piece pressure, earning two penalty corners in the sixth minute, another in the 11th and further opportunities as the half progressed. Indian captain and goalkeeper Savita Punia made a number of saves and held off China for the first 25 minutes, while India struggled to fashion clear openings despite a few forays into China’s circle.
In the 25th minute China won their fifth penalty corner; Zhong Jiaqi’s shot took a slight deflection and beat Savita, giving China a 1-0 lead at half-time. India were unable to respond with a goal before the break.
Ten minutes into the second half China won another penalty corner that was deflected into the net, Zou Meirong smashing it home to make it 2-0. Trailing by two, India pressed and won a series of penalty corners of their own as they sought to get back into the match.
India did put the ball in the net from a penalty corner, but the referee ruled it out on grounds that the shot had risen too high; that happened to India at least twice during the match. In the 55th minute China counter-attacked, Savita saved the first shot but Liang Meiyu pushed the rebound in to make it 3-0. India then reviewed a penalty corner awarded against them, lost the review and conceded it, and with the final shot of the match Gu Bingfeng made it 4-0.
After the game head coach Janneke Schopman said, "We didn’t play well. China played well. That’s about it." She added: "It is what it is. Unfortunately, we are not in the Pro League." Savita reflected: "We didn’t play our hockey in the first half," she said. "…We know what our goal is and how we can rise to it, but it wasn’t possible today."
A lot has changed for India since Hangzhou: they appointed Sjoerd Marijne as coach, won the FIH Nations Cup and then finished fifth at the 2026 World Cup, their best result in 52 years. At that World Cup India held then World No. 4 China to a 2-2 draw in Amsterdam; Savita remains among the goalkeepers, Salima Tete is now captain and scored in the semi-final win over South Korea, and Deepika finished as the tournament's top scorer with 21 goals in six matches. China enter the Aichi-Nagoya Games as defending champions and, like India, remain unbeaten at these Games; India have not won Asian Games gold in women's hockey since 1982, a 44-year drought.
India and China meet again on October 2 at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with the gold medal at stake and a place at the LA 2028 Olympics also on the line.
