Hockey Olympic Qualifiers: India defeats New Zealand, stays alive in tournament

A different Indian women's hockey team turned up at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Astro Turf on Sunday as they defeated New Zealand 3-1 in the Pool B clash of FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024.

Entering a must-win match situation after losing the opening game to the USA, India started brilliantly with a goal in the opening minute. Local girl Sangita Kumari opened the scoring after Neha set up Salima Tete in the circle.

Both teams traded PCs in the following minutes but eventually, it was New Zealand who found success as Megan Hull created just enough space to get a perfect hit to make the post in the 9th minute.

Four minutes later, Lalremsiami did well in the circle to help India win a PC and this time it was birthday girl Udita who converted a fine PC with a powerful slap shot. India continued their rampaging form in the first quarter as they extended their lead to 3-1 in the 14th minute when Salima and Beauty Dung Dung – both from Jharkhand – worked in tandem to fetch the third goal for the hosts.

A sensational 3-1 lead put India in a comfortable position going into the second quarter. Though there were no goals in this quarter, there were strong spells by Beauty, Salima, and Deepika who kept the packed audience on the edge of their seats.

In the second half, Indian Captain Savita made a sensational save to keep the New Zealanders from scoring through a PC. Nisha too was worthy of praise with her diligent blocking. India too created a couple of opportunities in the following minutes but didn’t convert.

India’s defenders continued to put all their heart into keeping their team in a 3-1 lead. They intercepted almost all of New Zealand’s long balls and managed the backline efficiently.

Though New Zealand tried their best to come back in the final moments of the match, India held their nerves to seal three points from this match.

"The biggest message from yesterday was to connect as a team and we did that today. It was a complete team effort and the players played to the team's strength," Indian coach Janneke Schopman said after the match.

"We knew that we couldn't lose and we also couldn't tie as it would make things more difficult. Our defence was solid against a difficult team to play," she added further.

India will Italy on 16th January and a win there shall be enough for the Indian team to make it through to the knockout stage.