CWG 2022: Indian Women Hockey Team Reaches Semi-Finals

The Indian women's hockey team defeated Canada 3-2 in the final match of the league stage to go to the semi-finals of Common Wealth Games 2022. The Indian women's team will play Australia in the semifinals after placing second in Pool A.

In their crucial Pool A encounter against lower-ranked Canada on Wednesday, the Indian women's hockey team overcame some tense moments to defeat Canada 3-2 and advance to the Commonwealth Games semifinals.

Indian Women Hockey Team CWG

Salima Tete's third-minute goal and Navneet Kaur's second-minute goal gave the Indian team a lead over their World No. 15 opponents and gave them control of the game until the 22nd minute (22nd).

However, the Canadians then put up a valiant effort to tie the game with goals from Brienne Stairs (23rd) and Hannah Haughn (39th).It was a tense situation for the Savita Punia-led team because Canada just needed a draw to advance as they had a better goal differential than England, which had already secured a semifinal berth from the pool with a 3-1 victory over India on Tuesday.

In the 51st minute, Lalremsiami scored off a rebound following a penalty corner to tie the game at 2-2 for Janneke Schopman's team. Salima's goal off the rebound of a penalty corner in the third minute of play demonstrated how India's aggressive strategy was paying off. Lalremsiami had a great chance to extend the lead two minutes later, but she missed it by shooting past the Canadian goal post.

Sangita Kumari showed technique to carry the ball from the baseline just seconds into the first quarter, giving India a wonderful opportunity that Canadian goalkeeper Rowan Harris saved.In the second quarter, the Canadian team was more determined and occasionally succeeded in putting pressure to the Indian defence. In the 22nd minute, however, Navneet Kaur, who had previously been assisted by Lalremsiami, gave India a two-goal advantage.

Canada earned a penalty corner a minute later, and Stairs helped them close the gap. Haughn scored the equaliser for her team's side after Canada earned another penalty corner in the 39th minute. Canada won two more penalty corners with a few seconds remaining in the third quarter, but India defended well.

With India in danger of being eliminated, Monika nearly gave them the crucial goal in the 47th minute, but Canadian goalkeeper Harris stopped her. Neha Goyal attempted to score from close range two minutes later, but the goal was called back because the ball struck Salima's back stick.

After Gurjit Kaur's attempt was saved by the Canadian defence, the Indian team kept up the pressure and won a penalty corner in the 51st minute. This time, Lalremsiami scored from a melee in the goalmouth. India won another penalty corner two minutes before the final buzzer, but they chose not to take advantage of it. To scrape out the crucial victory, the Indians maintained their defence for the remainder of the game.

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