After a gap of 13 years, India lifted the Asia Cup after defeating China 5-4 in a thrilling penalty shootout. Having clinched the trophy after going undefeated throughout the tournament, and sealing a spot in next year’s World Cup, there are murmurs of a new dawn in women’s hockey.

Coach Harendra Singh has already earned widespread praise for the manner in which his side have taken the game to higher-ranked teams. China, arguably without some of their experienced players but ranked 6th in the world, was defeated twice. They were ruthless against lowly Singapore and Kazakhstan, who shipped 17 goals between them as Rani Rampal and co ran riot. In Gurjit Singh, India found their top-scorer with eight goals

It was only a week ago that the men’s team cruised to their fourth Asia Cup triumph. This win has trumped that. Sadly, none of the Indian hockey fans got to see even a minute of it on television.