Amsterdam: The Indian women narrowly missed out on a semifinal berth in the Hockey World Cup, being edged out by Australia on goals scored after tying on points in second-phase Pool E.
However, Salima Tete’s girls brushed off that disappointment with a fabulous 3-1 victory over Germany in a classification fixture on Thursday to finish fifth in the competition.
Three goals in the space of four minutes, including a brace by Navneet Kaur, handed India a convincing victory at Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen, Netherlands.
Indian women couldn’t create clear goal-scoring chances in the first two quarters.
The score remained goalless at half-time. Th deadlock remained even 12 minutes into the third quarter.
Then the floodgates opened.
Ishika scored with a fine reverse hit in the 43rd minute. Two minutes later, Navneet Kaur drove home from a penalty corner to hand India a two-goal cushion.
Two minutes into the final quarter, Navneet scored her second goal, calmly beating the German goalkeeper by lifting the ball over her head.
Germany managed a consolation goal a minute before the final hooter, but soon the Indians were celebrating their best performance in the World Cup since the fourth-place finish in the inaugural edition in 1974.
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