5 Germany 3-1 in the 5th-6th classification playoff in Amstelveen on Thursday. NEW DELHI: The Indian women’s hockey team signed off from the World Cup on a high, defeating world No.
The result secured the team fifth place, their best finish at the quadrennial showpiece since the inaugural edition in 1974 when they finished fourth. Her run ended with a composed finish that gave India a 1-0 lead. Germany earned one final PC with 12 seconds remaining yet India’s defence held firm to complete a memorable 3-1 victory. Their only loss came against defending champions Netherlands while they held higher-ranked China, England and Australia to draws and defeated South Africa 6-1 for their biggest win ever at the World Cup.
Neha Goyal won possession and quickly released Ishika, who had options on either side but chose to take on the German defence herself. The match began with both teams adopting a cautious approach although Germany enjoyed more possession. Both sides managed to enter the circle but struggled to produce clean shots. India created their best opportunity of the second quarter when Deepika Sehrawat found Navneet, who in turn set up Lalremsiami. However, her effort went wide. Navneet and Salima Tete combined to test German goalkeeper Finja Starck, who made three successive saves to keep the score level at half-time. The breakthrough finally arrived in the 43rd minute. India continued their momentum into the final quarter and struck again in the 47th minute. Salima found Navneet along the baseline and the forward brilliantly manoeuvred around two defenders before lifting the ball into the net for her second and the team’s third. Germany tried to respond with Lynn Krings narrowly missing with a deflection in the 50th minute. Krings eventually pulled one back in the 59th minute.
