Hyderabad, March 13 (IANS) The Indian Women’s Hockey team earned their spot in the Final of FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers 2026 Hyderabad, Telangana as they beat Italy 1-0 in their Semi-Final contest at the G. M. C. Balayogi Hockey Ground (Gachibowli Hockey Complex) on Friday.

Manisha Chauhan (40′) scored the winning goal for India and they will now face England in the Final.

It was an extremely tight contest in the first quarter as both sides constantly battled for possession in the midfield. India started the match strong with a couple of strong circle entries, however, Italy eventually started attacking aggressively and created a few good chances on goal.

India won the momentum back in the second quarter. The hosts used their flanks to push the ball ahead and started attacking in numbers and made crucial circle entries. In the 18th minute, India won the first penalty corner of the evening but Navneet Kaur’s shot on goal was stopped well by Italian goalkeeper Lucia Ines Caruso.

In the 27th minute, they were awarded another penalty corner as India played out an interesting variation. The ball was played back to the injector, Captain Salima Tete, but her shot was stopped on the line by Italy’s last defender, denying them a goal. In the 29th minute, India had another opportunity to score through a penalty corner but Navneet Kaur’s shot went off target.

In the early minutes of the second half, Italy launched a strong attack on goal as Emilia Munitis was through on goal but India’s goalkeeper Bichu Devi Kharibam came out and made a crucial save. In the 40th minute, India were awarded yet another penalty corner and this time they successfully converted it to break the deadlock. Manisha Chauhan (40′) delivered a powerful dragflick down the middle that pierced through the Italian defence and found the net.

India won two early penalty corners in the final quarter as they pushed to increase their advantage in the late stage but Italy remained resilient with their defending. Italy gave it their all in the final minutes of the match and won a crucial penalty corner in the 59th minute but India managed to deny their opposition the equaliser and emerged victorious.

India will next face England in the Final on March 14 at 7:30 PM IST.

–IANS

hs/