India beat NZ to win FIH women’s Nations Cup

Continuing their impressive run of form, India defeated hosts New Zealand 2-0 in the final to win their second FIH Women’s Nations Cup title and secured promotion to the FIH Women’s Pro League here on Sunday.

Navneet Kaur (4’) gave India the early lead before Sunelita Toppo (15’) doubled India’s advantage. The team produced a stellar defensive display to protect their lead and win the title, which also marked their return to the Pro League next season.

Lalremsiami won the ‘Player of the Match’ award in the final, while Deepika finished as the joint-top scorer in the tournament with six goals to her name, sharing the honours with USA’s Ashley Sessa. This is India’s second Nations Cup title, having won the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2022. India remained unbeaten throughout their campaign, defeating USA (3-2), Japan (2-1), and Uruguay (3-2) in the Pool A matches, before registering a commanding 6-0 win over Chile in the semi-final. To recognise the teams’ achievements, Hockey India announced a cash award of `3 lakh for each player and `1.5 lakh for each member of the support staff.

In the title match, the hosts enjoyed the majority of possession in the early exchanges as they looked to make early inroads. However, the visitors manufactured the first meaningful opportunity of the game when Kaur won a penalty corner. She converted from the set-piece with a thunderous hit in the 4th minute, putting India in front.

India were exceptional in transition, causing all sorts of problems for New Zealand’s defence with their intensity.

They doubled their advantage through their fifth penalty corner of the opening quarter, with Sunelita deflecting a sharp attempt from Deepika, handing India a 2-0 lead in the 15th minute.

India were disciplined in the second quarter, while New Zealand began to grow into the game as they looked to claw back. The visitors, too had a couple of opportunities to extend their lead.

However, neither side could find the back of the net, resulting in India holding onto their two-goal advantage at half-time.

India remained resolute in the third quarter, putting up a remarkable defensive display that kept the hosts at bay and denied them any clear goal-scoring opportunity. With their high intensity, the visitors forced a mistake from the New Zealand defence, but Navneet’s reverse hit was saved by the goalkeeper.

New Zealand earned a penalty corner in the opening exchanges of the fourth quarter. The resulting set-piece, however, was saved by Savita. The visitors remained superb in maintaining a tight defensive structure and eventually secured a 2-0 win to clinch the title.