Last Update: December 15, 2022, 18:07 IST
FIH Women’s Nations Cup: Indian women’s hockey team (Twitter)
The Indian women’s hockey team is so far undefeated in the FIH Nations Cup with victories over Chile, Japan and South Africa.
Riding high on three consecutive wins, the Indian women’s hockey team will want to avoid complacency when they take on lower-ranked Ireland in the semi-finals of the FIH Nations Cup on Friday.
The Savita Punia-led side are unbeaten so far in the tournament after defeating Chile (3-1), Japan (2-1) and South Africa (2-0) to top Pool B.
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Despite this, the Janke Schoepmann-coached side have been far from confident in the penalty corner conversion department, which still remains its biggest concern.
on the basis of world ranking at number eight India Will start as favorites against Ireland (world no. 13) but it won’t be easy to beat the European players who finished second in Pool A.
The likes of Salima Tete, Sonika, Navneet Kaur, Navjot Kaur, Vandana Kataria, young Beauty Dungdung have been impressive in the Indian midfield and forwardline, living up to expectations.
But, the defending ability under pressure from Deep Grace Ekka and Gurjeet Kaur has been weak on many occasions.
Experienced goalkeeper Savita helped India on several occasions with her excellent anticipation and awareness to keep the winning streak going.
And on Friday, the Indians will have to be at their best to continue the winning momentum and make it to the finals.
We would like to continue the winning streak against Ireland. They (Ireland) finished second in Pool A and are a strong team. They can trouble any team on any given day, and we will use all our resources against such a team,” Savita said ahead of Friday’s match.
“The match against Chile was great, as we dominated from the start. We did well against Japan, a strong defensive team that always gives us a challenge. Brought our A-game on the field, which gave us a lot of confidence going into the semi-finals.”
Converting penalty corners has been India’s perennial problem and it was on full display so far in the tournament.
In their final pool match against Japan, India earned nine penalty corners but failed to convert even one.
In the first two pool matches, all five of India’s goals came from field efforts, but both their goals against South Africa came through penalty corners, with vice-captain Deep Grace and Gurjeet scoring in the final minutes of the first and final quarters respectively. Received.
This should come as a welcome relief for head coach Schoepmann, but she will be a little concerned about the lack of initiative from her forwardline.
Hosts Spain will face Japan in the other semi-final.
Savita said the target was to win the tournament so that India would be able to play in the next season of the FIH Hockey Women’s Pro League (2023-2024).
“We participated in the previous edition of the tournament, and it was an amazing experience for us. Playing in the Pro League will serve as a good preparation for the Asian Games and 2024 Paris Olympics.”
The eight-team FIH Nations Cup is important for India as it brings in a system of promotion-relegation, where the champions will be promoted to the 2023-24 FIH Hockey Women’s Pro League, a crucial event ahead of next year’s Asian Games and 2024. Is. Paris Olympics.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)