India held by England in women's hockey

The Indian women hockey team's quest for a Commonwealth Games medal came suffered a jolt when they were held to a 1-1 draw by hosts England in their last Pool B league match at the Belle Vue Regional Centre in Manchester on Monday.

The Indians fought bravely but could not break the 1-1 deadlock in a keenly contested encounter which saw a barrage of attacks from both the teams.

India raised hopes of a victory by firing the first salvo in the 23rd minute, with the hard-working Suman Bala converting a penalty-corner.

But the euphoria was shortlived as the hosts restored parity within four minutes when Jeannie Bimson also converted a penalty-corner.

With the score 1-1 at the interval, both the teams played their hearts out in the second session to break the stalemate but without much luck.

India finished their group engagements with three points, with one win and two draws.

In other matches, in Pool A, Australia posted a record score while thrashing Malaysia 18-0 while South Africa whipped Scotland 4-1.

The teams now enter the second stage of the tournament where they will play cross-over matches. With the winners of the respective pools assured of a semi-final place, the second and third placed teams of each group play each other -- second of Pool 1 vs third of Pool 2 -- to decide the other two semi-finalists.