Young striker Deepika turned out to be the star again, scoring a fine reverse hit goal as India retained the women's Asian Champions Trophy hockey title after edging past Olympics silver medallist China 1-0 in a pulsating final at Rajgir, Bihar, on Wednesday.
Deepika scored following a penalty-corner in the 31st minute and finished as the tournament's highest goal-getter with 11 strikes.
India had earlier stunned China 3-0 in the league stages of the tournament.
It was India's third ACT title, having won it in 2016 and 2023.
India is now the most successful side in the tournament's history alongside South Korea, with three titles each.
China had to settle for their third runners-up finish.
Japan finished third after defeating Malaysia 4-1 in the third-fourth place classification match earlier in the day.
It was a neck and neck fight between the two sides throughout the contest. Both India and China made many promising circle penetrations but the backline of both was rock solid in the first two quarters.
India’s 17-year-old Sunelita Toppo was brilliant with her dribbling skills and defence splitting runs on both flanks.
Three minutes into the second quarter, China secured the first penalty-corner but India's second goalkeeper Bichu Devi Kharibam made a terrific diving save to keep out Jinzhuang Tan’s effort.
In the next two minutes the Indians earned as many as four penalty-corners but, as was the case in the tournament, they failed to utilise a single with Deepika taking most of the chances.
Penalty-corner conversion has been a concern for India in the tournament. In the semi-final against Japan they had 13 set pieces, but failed to find the net even once.
In the 23rd minute, it was India's turn to concede another penalty-corner but the first rusher defended bravely to deny the Chinese.
Minutes later, skipper Salima Tete created a fine ball for Sharmila Devi whose first time hit to the near post went wide as the deadlock continued at half-time.
India kept up the pressure on the Chinese defence and secured their fifth penalty-corner with the first move after the change of ends.
Deepika this time finally found the net with a reverse hit after building on from a miss-trap push.
In the 42nd minute she had a bright chance to increase her tally when she earned a penalty stroke for a deliberate push inside the circle, but Chinese goalkeeper Li Ting pulled off a stunning reflex save to deny the star Indian striker.
Minutes later, Ting once again came to China's rescue as she saved Sushila Chanu's shot from India's sixth penalty-corner.
Trailing by just a solitary goal, the Chinese employed high-press hockey thereafter and also managed to breach inside the Indian circle on a few occasions but the home team's defence stood firm.
