India women in tight spot after second draw

By Our Special Correspondent

The Indian women's hockey team has been lackluster so far and would need to tick all boxes in its final Pool B match against New Zealand on Thursday to stay in contention for sealing a direct quarterfinals berth in the 2022 Women's Hockey World Cup.

The Indians, who finished fourth in the Tokyo Olympics last year, drew their opening games 1-1 against England and China in the tournament so far.

After Jiali Zheng opened the scoring with a beautiful finish in the 25th minute, Vandana Kataria made it two in as many games with a close-range finish following penalty corners before the fourth quarter. China, who have two Olympic medalists in their women's team, Alison Annan and Tyke Tykema, were part of their backroom crew in the Netherlands engineering, making some moves in the striking circle, and eventually earning a penalty corner to steal the match and the Indian defense held.

It is currently placed third in the group table, a couple of points below China and NZ. As per the tournament format, the top four sides from each group will qualify for the quarterfinals directly, while the second and third-placed teams will engage in the crossovers.

In the crossovers, the second-placed team of Group A will clash against the third of Group D and vice versa, while the second of Group B will face take on the third of Group C and vice versa for the remaining four quarters spots. However, given India's performance in the first couple of games, it won't be accessible.

Although the Indian defence has been impressive so far, as it denied England a single penalty corner in the opening game, the forward line-up and midfield performance were sloppy. Except for Vandana Katariya, who has scored two goals for the side in the competition, no other striker has impressed, with the likes of Lalremsiami, Sharmila Devi and Navneet Kaur performing under-par.

While the Indians did create chances, they failed to capitalize on them. The midfield was rusty against China and needs to up its ante.

The penalty corner conversion rate has also been concerning for chief coach Janekke Schopman, as India has scored just a couple from 12, while it came indirectly via Vandana.

Gurjit Kaur must polish her skills and upgrade her conversion rate if India needs to progress further in the tournament. Regarding rankings, there is hardly anything to separate the two, as NZ is ranked eighth while India is a rung below.

The Black Sticks women, however, would be confident following their win against England. Both sides would have a good idea about the required equations, as China and England will be playing earlier on Thursday.

While Schopman will take heart from the fact that they have now twice come from behind to draw games, they are now walking the tightrope in advancing to the next stage of the competition. The two draws mean that their last pool game against New Zealand on Thursday is already a virtual cannot lose game.