Xplorich
The Indian women’s hockey team seems to have put their past struggles behind them as they continued their impressive run at Nations Cup, thrashing Chile 6-0 in the semifinals in Auckland on Saturday to set up a title clash against hosts New Zealand on Sunday.Navneet Kaur (6’, 13’) and Deepika (14’, 18’) scored two goals each, while Neha (36’) and Rutuja Dadaso Pisal (39’) found the net once apiece. New Zealand, meanwhile, beat the USA 4-1 in a shootout after their semifinal ended 1-1 in regulation time.The final promises to be a mouth-watering contest as both India and New Zealand have won all four of their matches so far, with the hosts also enjoying home advantage.India, however, will be brimming with confidence after a dominant semifinal display in which they looked like a well-oiled machine.The Sjoerd Marijne-coached side moved the ball fluently, linked up well across the pitch and, most importantly, converted their chances – something they had struggled to do consistently despite winning all their group-stage matches. They were especially clinical from penalty corners, converting four of the seven they earned.Salima Tete was once again at the heart of India’s attacking play and was rightly named Player of the Match for her tireless running down the left flank.“We decided as a team before the match that we would play together, and that’s exactly what we did. We played good hockey and stuck to our simple game. I’m happy with both the team’s performance and my own,” said the India captain after the match.“We want another win, and hopefully we can score even more goals.”Earlier, India were off the blocks immediately and took the lead in the sixth minute when Navneet converted their first PC of the match. Seven minutes later, she doubled the advantage after Salima surged down the left wing and found her in front of goal for a simple finish.Deepika then converted two successive PCs to make it 4-0 and take her tally for the tournament to six goals in four matches.Chile tried to find a way back into the contest after the break, but India put the result beyond doubt in the third quarter. Neha got a touch to a Deepika penalty corner to make it five before Rutuja produced a fine finish to add a sixth.India won two more penalty corners in the final quarter but by then Chile were well out of the contest as India comfortably booked their place in the final.
