India will look to seal the deal for Paris with a win over Germany (Pic Credit: Hockey India)
The Indians bounced again from a 0-1 loss to USA of their tournament-opener to outclass New Zealand and Italy to seal their semifinal spot because the second-placed crew from Pool B.
Just one win away from securing a Paris Olympics berth, a resilient Indian girls’s hockey crew might want to produce its ‘A’ recreation towards higher-ranked Germany within the semifinals of the FIH Olympic Qualifiers right here on Thursday.
The Indians bounced again from a 0-1 loss to USA of their tournament-opener to outclass New Zealand and Italy to seal their semifinal spot because the second-placed crew from Pool B.
It was a near-perfect efficiency within the final two matches with all departments clicking in unison and the Savita Punia-led facet would look to proceed the identical method within the business finish of the match.
The prime three groups from right here will qualify for this yr’s Olympics and a win on Thursday will assure India a ticket to Paris.
In case they fail to take action, the Indians will get one other shot within the third-fourth place match towards the opposite dropping semi-finalists on Friday.
But the house facet must strategy the match towards Germany with a constructive mindset.
The finest side of India’s efficiency within the final two matches was their backline. The Indian defenders dished out a superlative effort to maintain their opponents at bay.
The defence led by skipper Savita and comprising Udita, Monika and Nikki Pradhan didn’t put a foot unsuitable within the final two matches, clearing any unfastened balls inside their circle on the first alternative.
The midfield too has been resourceful. Salima Tete has been phenomenal along with her fast working, together with Neha Goyal. The two mixed properly to create probabilities for the ahead line.
At the entrance, Lalremsiami, Sangita Kumari, Beauty Dung Dung and Navneet Kaur have additionally lived upto the crew’s expectations with their high quality show.
Penalty nook conversion has been a thorny subject for the Indians however within the final match towards Italy, Udita Duhan, enjoying her a centesimal worldwide, got here as a saviour for India, changing two set items along with her trademark slap pictures.
But Udita alone gained’t be sufficient for India towards a powerful facet like Germany.
“Udita is at par with her skill, which is slap shot and we saw that against Italy. But we need more variation from penalty corners. Deepika is a very good drag-flicker but in most of the PCs we got yesterday she was not in the field. The one time she was there we miss-trapped the push,” coach Janneke Schopman stated.
“We also have Neha and Monika who have got good hits.” The Germans completed on prime of Pool A with seven factors, comparable as second positioned Japan, however had a greater aim distinction.
Going by world rankings, there may be hardly something to separate the 2 sides as India are positioned sixth on the earth towards Germany’s fifth place.
Since 2006, India have performed Germany seven occasions, successful simply two and dropping 5 video games. So, the chances are towards India going into Thursday’s match.
But in modern-day hockey rankings and previous outcomes are simply numbers because the gulf between groups could be very slim and what issues is efficiency on the day.
“We know Germany well, we have played them in the summer and we have played them in Spain recently. They have some good individual players but if we remain ourselves, we can rip them a little,” Schopman stated.
In the opposite semifinal, USA will tackle Japan.
(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated news company feed – PTI)
Siddarth SriramAfter coaching within the subject of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, presently dabbles in placing collectively tales, from acros…Read More
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