Incheon, Sep 24 (IANS): The Indian women's hockey team went down fighting to defending champions China 1-2 in their second group match of the 17th Asian Games at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium here Wednesday.

After starting their campaign with a 3-0 victory over Thailand, India failed to replicate the result and ended as the losing side when China's Liang Meiyu and Zhao Yudiao scored a goal each. Jaspreet Kaur scored the lone goal for India.

Both teams played attacking hockey from the first minute and tried to create maximum chances. But it were China who opened the account in the second quarter when the game was in the 19th minute. Liang converted a penalty corner to help China take the lead in the match.

India fought back fiercely and managed to earn a penalty stroke within four minutes. Defender Jaspreet successfully converted the opportunity to equalise the scoreline at 1-1 in the 23rd minute.

The third quarter saw the battle getting intense as both the Asian powerhouses strived for the winning goal. However, just two minutes before the hooter India suffered a setback when Zhao managed to sneak the ball into the Indian net to claim the victory.

India will play their third and final group match against Malaysia Friday.