Ranchi (Jharkhand): The German Women's Hockey team has secured their berth in the Paris Olympics 2024 as they stormed into the final of the FIH women's Olympic qualifiers beating India here on Thursday.
The Savita Punia-led side lost to the German side on the sudden death of the penalty shootouts in the tightly-fought second semi-final which had ended 2-2 after regulation time.
A foul on the goalkeeper by the German allowed hosts India another attempt in sudden death three but Sonika failed to convert into a goal and India went on the backfoot after two consecutive failed attempts while Lisa didn't lose her composure and took her team to the Paris Olympics 2024. However, Women in Blue still have a chance to book their tickets to Paris if they beat Japan in a 3/4 classification match on Friday. Notably, the top three sides from this tournament will qualify for the Paris Games.
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Germany wins after an intense sudden death in Penalty shootout. #HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #EnRouteToParis #IndvGer
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) January 18, 2024 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">Germany wins after an intense sudden death in Penalty shootout. #HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #EnRouteToParis #IndvGer
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) January 18, 2024Germany wins after an intense sudden death in Penalty shootout. #HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #EnRouteToParis #IndvGer
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) January 18, 2024
The Indians too made a few circle penetrations but lacked in finishing. But egged on by MS Dhoni, the former India cricket team captain who came to watch the game, the home side fought back valiantly to trouble the German defence with their speed.
Earlier, India was dominating in the mid-field and Neha created an opportunity and earned a penalty corner for India in the last minute of the first quarter while Deepika didn't disappoint and her fiery drag flick gave India 1-0 lead in the knockout game.
In the 27th minute, Germany scored the equaliser against the run of play after a loose ball at the top of the circle allowed the Germans to level the score with 1-1 after quarter two.
In the fourth quarter, Germany missed out on the opportunity to take the lead after failing to convert the penalty corner which they earned after winning a referral for a foot in the circle against Deepika. But then, in the 57th minute, a defensive error cost India a goal as Stapenhorst scored her second goal of the match providing her team 1-2 lead with only three minutes remaining for the end of the match.
However, the hosts were desperately looking for an equalizer after a long pass into the circle was stolen by Stapenhorst, who made no mistake in belting it past Savita.
In the 58th minute, India earned a penalty corner but the goalkeeper defended it beautifully but umpire called it a dangerous ball after raised from the rivals hockey stick and the hosts got another penalty corner and this time, Ishika didn't lose her composure and helped her side to level the score with a minute to go in the match.
In the shoot-out, it was advantage India as Savita made two fine saves but Navneet Kaur, Neha Goyal, Sangita Kumari, and Sonika missed from the one-on-one situation in sudden death to hand Germany the match and ticket to the Paris Games.
Japan lost 1-2 to the USA in the second Semi-Final and the 3rd/4th place playoff will be held on Friday, January 19. The winners of that game will qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Earlier, India began their campaign on a disappointing note, losing to the United States of America thrashed India by 2-0. The Indian women's team, though, made a superb comeback, winning the next two games against New Zealand, and Italy. The Indians bounced back from a 0-1 loss to the USA in their tournament opener to outclass New Zealand and Italy to seal their semifinal spot as the second-placed team from Pool B.
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