Auckland, Jun 19 (PTI) Dominant so far in the tournament, a confident India will look to continue in the same vein and upstage a lower-ranked Chile in the semifinals of the FIH Nations Cup here on Saturday in their pursuit of reclaiming their place in the elite FIH Pro League.
India have literally muscled their way to the semifinals from Pool A with three wins from as many games, topping the group with nine points ahead of the USA.
Hosts New Zealand, on the other hand, topped Pool B with an all-win record and will take on the USA in the other semifinal.
India are determined to win the FIH Nations Cup to earn their place back in next season’s elite FIH Pro League, from which they were relegated last year.
The Indian women’s team was relegated from
the elite FIH Pro League to the second-tier FIH Hockey Nations Cup following its last-place finish in the 2024-25 season, after managing only 10 points from 16 matches.
The winner of the eight-nation FIH Nations Cup will progress to next year’s FIH Pro League.
Going by rankings and current form, India will definitely start as favourites against Chile.
In red-hot form, India are currently ranked ninth in the world, while Chile are placed 13th, but rankings hardly matter in modern-day hockey.
But going into the semifinal, India’s chief coach Sjoerd Marijne should have a few concerns as his side had to dig deep to prevail over 17th-ranked Uruguay in their last pool match.
It took a penalty corner brace from Deepika, the last of which came in the 56th minute, and a field strike from Deepika Soreng to beat Uruguay, who had taken the early lead.
Drag-flicker Deepika is in prime form, having converted four penalty corners to be the joint highest scorer in the tournament so far alongside the United States’ Ashley Sessa.
Besides Deepika, Navneet Kaur, skipper Salima Tete and Lalremsiami have scored a goal each from penalty corners, while India’s lone field strike in the tournament came from the stick of Deepika Soreng in the last match.
Marijne can at least take heart from the fact that his side managed to score a field goal in their last match through Deepika Soreng, but going forward in the business end of the tournament, the Indian strike force needs to pull up its socks by creating more opportunities from field play and not simply relying on set pieces.
India are the highest-ranked side in the tournament ahead of 10th-placed hosts New Zealand, and if everything goes according to coach Marijne’s plan, the Salima Tete-led side is expected to emerge victorious in the tournament and earn its place in the FIH Pro League next season.
Chile, meanwhile, finished second in Pool B with four points from one win, one draw and one loss behind hosts New Zealand. PTI SSC AM SSC AM AM
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