Indian women have finally found their moorings. On Friday, they made it to the final of the Olympic qualifiers with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Italy at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium.
Knowing full well that it was a must-win outing for them, the Indian women went all out for a win from the word go. Although the contest was in slow pace, the hosts, nevertheless, deserved the win. They somehow managed to break the defences of the Italian team.
After ending the first half goalless, the Indian eves spent most of their next 20 minutes in the Italian half. The entire Italian team gathered around its own penalty area to only defend and never showed any intention to attack the Indian citadel.
The Italians’ approach changed after Indian mid-fielder Ritu Rani broke the impasse in the 55th minute when a penalty corner hit got deflected off the rival goalkeeper. This was India’s sixth penalty corner and Ritu gave the final push to a rising ball that she intercepted on the goal mouth.
It was the turn of Italians now to rush towards the Indian half and they did manage to create a few chances. But it was probably too late and they paid heavily for their badly-planned strategy of playing defensive hockey.
After holding favourites and the strongest side in the tournament, South Africa, in their league game, Italy would have hoped to make it to the final. It was not to be.
India now have only 24 hours for their dream match against South Africa to whom they lost to 2-5 in the league outing. Chances of an Indian win are bleak but then who knows, the hosts may spring a surprise with yet another never-say-die display like they did on Friday.
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