A confident Indian women's hockey team will face a daunting task in their semi-final match of Commonwealth Games as they play World No 5 and hosts Australia here at the Gold Coast Hockey Centre on Thursday.
India qualified for the semi-finals by securing three consecutive victories in Pool A. After having lost to Wales 2-3 in the opening match of their campaign, the Indian team showed their character as they made an impressive comeback to finish second in their Pool, defeating Malaysia, World No 2 England and South Africa. The three wins made sure that India qualified for the semi-finals by accumulating nine points from their four matches, only behind England on goal difference.
Captain Rani, who scored the only goal in her team's 1-0 victory South Africa in their last Pool A match, praised her team's performances at the CWG. The 23-year-old said, "We had a tough start to the tournament here but the girls decided to work hard on the errors that we made in our opening match. We made sure that we were not making the same mistakes, and with the kind of attacking talent that we have in our team, we were always confident that we can defeat any team in the world."