BHUBANESWAR: India women's hockey team thrashed the USA by 5-1 in the first leg of the FIH Hockey Olympic qualifiers at the Kalinga stadium here on Friday.
India's Lilima Minz scored the opening goal of the match when the game was in the 29th minute. Sharmila Devi then added another goal to India's tally in the 40th minute.
India continued their aggressive form in the match and just after two minutes, India took their lead to three goals with the help of Gurjit Kaur's strike.
Consolidating India's position further in the match, Navneet Kaur netted another goal, taking the scoreline to 4-0.
India completely dominated the USA and did not let the momentum lose as Gurjit Kaur, in the 51st minute, smashed another goal for the hosts.
The visitors finally managed to open their tally in the game as Erin Matson scored a goal in the 54th minute. India then played cautiously and restricted the USA from scoring more goals.
India will now compete against the USA for the second leg of the qualifiers on November 2.