FIH Nations Cup: The Indian women’s hockey team defeated Spain 1-0 to win the first-ever FIH Nations Cup on Saturday in Valencia. The outcome also implies that the team led by coach Janneke Schopman has secured the spot to the FIH Pro League 2023–24. Each player on the team will receive a monetary reward of Rs. 2 lakh, while the support personnel will receive Rs. 1 lakh each, according to Hockey India.
Gurjit Kaur stars in the win
Gurjit Kaur’s powerful drag flick in the fifth minute of the summit match against the Spanish team gave the Indian team, who earlier this year won the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, an early lead.
In the 41st minute, the host nation made a valiant effort and appeared to have cracked the Indian defence, which was captained by goalie Savita Punia. The goal, though, was rejected. Udita, who scored the winning goal against Ireland in the semifinal, was given a green card (a two-minute suspension) for a foul in the 45th minute, temporarily reducing the Indian team to ten players, but the Spanish side was unable to capitalise on the opportunity.
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India remains undefeated in the tournament
Earlier this year, at the FIH Women’s World Cup in July, Spain defeated the women in blue by the same score in their previous encounter of the two finalist teams. With five victories in five games, India finished the tournament undefeated. Before edging Ireland 2-1 in a dramatic penalty shootout in the semifinal, the Indian team defeated Chile (3-1), Japan (2-1), and South Africa (2-0) in the group stage.
As replacement teams for Australia and New Zealand, which withdrew due to COVID-19-related concerns, India and Spain participated in the FIH women’s hockey Pro League in 2021–2022. In the 2021–22 FIH Pro League, India has earned a respectable third place result. For the current 2022–2023 Pro League season, India was not eligible.
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