Valencia, Dec 17 (Agency) The Indian Women’s Hockey Team held their nerve in a thrilling shootout to defeat Ireland 2-1 and advance to the final of the FIH Women’s Nations Cup 2022. The game went into a shootout after the two teams finished regulation time tied at 1-1. Udita’s penalty corner goal in the 45th minute helped India tie the game with Ireland. Naomi Carroll opened the scoring for Ireland in the 15th minute. India made a confident start to their semifinal match, having been unbeaten in the tournament so far and billed as the top contender for the title.
Early on, they used good attack and speed to create scoring opportunities. During one of these sorties, Ireland intercepted the ball and launched a successful counter-attack. Naomi Carroll scored quickly, leaving no time for experienced India goalkeeper Savita to defend. In the following quarters, Indian forwards Navneet Kaur, Lalremsiami (who played her 100th international match during this tournament), and Sangita Kumari helped their team by earning penalty corners. However, India was unable to capitalise on these opportunities. Irish goalkeeper Elizabeth Murphy made it difficult for India to breach their defence with some excellent saves. India did not make a breakthrough until the end of the third quarter. It was a penalty corner again this time, and India executed a fine variation in which Udita ensured a perfect deflection to net the ball. The goal in the 45th minute ensured that the game would go down to the wire, with India defending well in the final quarter. With the match going into the shootout, India once again banked on their Captain Savita who has been rock solid in such situations. While she made four brilliant saves, Indian attackers Lalremsiami and Sonika scored in the shootout to take India into the final. India will take on hosts Spain on December 17 at 2015 hours IST in the final of FIH Women’s Nations Cup 2022.