The Indian women’s hockey team ended their FIH World Cup campaign with a historic 3-1 win over higher-ranked Germany in the fifth-place classification match at Amstelveen, Netherlands, yesterday. The fifth-place finish is India’s best performance at the World Cup in 52 years, since the team finished fourth in the inaugural edition in 1974. The achievement is even more impressive, as the current squad included 11 World Cup debutants. For India Ishika opened the scoring in the 43rd minute, followed by two quick goals from Navneet Kaur in the 44th and 47th minutes.
Germany’s Lynn Krings scored a late consolation goal in the 59th minute. India lost only one match in the tournament, going down 0-2 to hosts and Olympic champions the Netherlands. The team also drew with China and England and defeated South Africa 6-1. After being eliminated from the semi-final race following a goalless draw against Australia, India bounced back strongly against Germany. Despite a slow start, India scored three goals in four minutes and defended firmly against Germany’s attacks. The performance will give the team a major confidence boost ahead of next month’s Asian Games in Japan.
