India end 44-year wait, Savita's heroics power India to Asian Games women's hockey gold

Aichi-Nagoya, Oct 2 (UNI) Forty-four years is a long time to wait for a title, but India finally ended the drought on Friday, with goalkeeper Savita Punia standing tall as the women's hockey team edged China 1-0 to reclaim the Asian Games gold and secure a direct berth at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Lalremsiami scored the decisive goal in the first quarter, marking her 200th international appearance in unforgettable fashion, before Savita and a resolute Indian defence turned the rest of the final into a lesson in patience and resistance. What followed was less about elegance and more about…