- Wednesday, April 24, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S women might have had a heartbreak in Asian Cup football after the entire camp tested positive for coronavirus which forced them to bow out of the tournament but their counterparts in hockey have more than made up.
On Monday (24), a day after India failed to field a team against Chinese Taipei in the football tournament, India hammered Singapore 9-1 in Women’s Hockey Asia Cup at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat, Oman, in their concluding game in Pool A to not only advance to the semi-finals but also qualify for the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup in Spain and the Netherlands in July.
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India reached the last four as the second team from Pool A after Japan who won all their group games, against the one against India. The defending champions and Olympic fourth-ranked team lost 0-2 to Japan but beat Malaysia 9-0 before the win against Singapore.
Savita Punia’s side will play Pool B toppers South Korea in the semi-final on Wednesday (26) while Japan will take on China on the same day.
Reflecting on the team’s performance in the tournament, India’ chief coach Janneke Schopman said, “The Malaysia game was very good, at times against Japan, we played a fast-paced game against a good team, a good defensive team, and yesterday, you know, it was going to be hard against teams that just want to slow down the game. So overall, I am quite happy with the number of corners we created and pretty happy with the tournament so far, and excited to see what’s next.”
Speaking about India’s qualification for the upcoming World Cup, Schopman, a former Dutch player, said the team’s main goal in the tournament was fulfilled.
“Of course, our main goal was to qualify for the World Cup, and we did that. It’s really exciting, we to be present at the highest level of women’s competition and compete with the best teams around the world,” she said.
On India’s Korea challenge in the semi-final, Schopman said she is looking forward to seeing if the women in blue could execute skills and strategic plans to corner the opponents that are known for their speed and experience.
“As I said, our main goal has been achieved, now we want to focus on the Korea game. Playing the semi-final is always special, those games are exciting as players, as a staff, we want to play and execute our game plan. Korea has a lot of speed, they have some good experience in their team as well. I am looking forward to seeing if we can execute our skills, our defence strategic plans, and I am sure if we can do that and stay calm then we can create a lot of opportunities, play a really good game and proceed to the Final,” she said.
Korea have won the Asia Cup title in women’s hockey the most number of times – three, followed by China, Japan and India (two each).
