FIH Olympic Hockey Qualifiers: Who will the Indian women's team face in the all-important semifinals?
The Indian women have qualified for the semifinals of the FIH Olympic Hockey Qualifiers following a 5-1 rout of Italy in their third and final preliminary match on January 16.
India, who ended up second in Pool B, will need to finish amongst the top three teams in the competition to book their spot at the upcoming Paris Olympics. The Women in Blue will face Germany in the first of the all-important semifinals while the USA take on Japan in the second semifinal.
The Indians got off to a blistering start on Tuesday. Salima Tete manufactured a PC in the very first minute after Sangita Kumar's stinging tomahawk was stopped by goalkeeper Lucia Ines Caruso.
Udita was on target with her slap shot, and after that the Indians continued with a flurry of forays into the attacking third. A clumsy challenge on Lalremsiami, who was brought down at the goalmouth following a scorching run, led to a penalty stroke for the Indians in the 41st minute.
Deepika made no mistake from the spot to double India's lead, before Salima Tete scored a spectacular goal from a tight angle at the end of the third quarter. Navneet Kaur then scored a peach of a goal following a solo run in the 53rd minute. Udita's penalty corner brace with four minutes left on the clock sealed the deal for the hosts.
The Italians, who struggled to stop their PCs cleanly throughout the match, scored a consolation short corner goal at the death thanks to Camila Machin.
German challenge awaits India in FIH Olympic Hockey Qualifiers semifinal
The Indian women are a step away from earning the right to join their male counterparts at the hockey event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. A win against Germany would be sufficient for India to qualify for the upcoming Olympic Games, irrespective of what happens thereafter.
A formidable challenge awaits the Savita Punia-led side given their record against Germany in both the recent and the remote past. A 1-3 defeat against the European side at the recent Five-Nations Tournament in Spain was preceded by two defeats for the Indians while on tour in Germany earlier this year, by 1-4 and 0-2 margins.
In 2021, the Indians lost all four of their tour matches in Germany. After going down by a 0-5 margin in the first match, they were defeated 0-1 in the second game. A 0-2 loss in the third encounter was followed by a 1-2 defeat in the final tour game.
Nike Lorenz and Anne Schroder also powered the Germans to a 2-0 win against India in the group stages of Tokyo 2021.
The Indians, however, will be enthused by the manner in which Japan held Germany to a 1-1 draw in the group stages of the Olympic Hockey Qualifiers in Ranchi.
The Women in Blue, currently ranked sixth, looked ominous during their 3-1 win against New Zealand on Sunday, January 14. They will fancy their chances given the home advantage and the backing of a vociferous crowd in Ranchi.
The semifinals of the FIH Olympic Hockey Qualifiers will be played on January 18.