Indian women’s team seals place in SFs, outplays Italy by 5-1: FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers

The Indian women’s hockey team defeated Italy 5-1 on Tuesday in the ongoing FIH Olympic Qualifiers at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astroturf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi, maintaining their hopes of winning the gold medal in Paris. The goals for the Indian women’s team came from Udita (1′, 55′), Deepika (41′), Salima Tete (45′), and Navneet Kaur (53′), whereas the only goal for Italy came from Camila Machin (60′). The hosts, who placed second in the pool stage behind the USA thanks to their victory against Italy, will play Germany in the semifinals on Thursday. Salima Tete, who shone on Sunday against New Zealand, also provided the hosts with a great start. In the first minute of play, she earned India a penalty corner.

Udita advanced and used a powerful drag flick to beat Italian goalkeeper Augustina D’ascola in her 100th international match for India. Even though they held the early lead, India may have been a little sloppy in the final third of the first quarter as Italy came perilously close to scoring in the final seconds. Moras Guadalupe, an Italian player, had a good opportunity to score, but India captain and goalie Savita Punia stopped him. India put a lot of pressure on Italy in the second quarter in an effort to score a second goal, but the visitors were able to hold off. However, India led 1-0 at the half as Italy barely made an effort to score.

India came out swinging in the third quarter, winning a penalty kick when Sofia Laurito brought Lalremsiami down from behind. Deepika converted the set-piece opportunity, putting the home team ahead by two goals. Indian victory was increased to 3-0 in the final seconds of the third quarter by Salima Tete. Navneet Kaur scored India’s fourth goal of the game in the 53rd minute, taking advantage of Italy’s attempts to push players forward in an attempt to score. Udita scored her second goal of the match from another penalty corner to seal a resounding victory. Italy’s Camila Machin scored a consolation goal on the final play of the match.