With World Cup qualification assured irrespective of their result against Italy in the semifinal of the qualifiers on Friday, India head coach Sjoerd Marijne said he demanded that his players ‘be the best version of themselves’. “We need to improve every match and that starts with every individual,” he said before the match. What followed over the next 60 minutes did not quite live up to those demands, but India still did enough to edge past Italy 1-0 and seal their spot in the title clash against England on Saturday. The solitary goal was credited to Manisha Chauhan, so that is an additional box ticked off for India. In Deepika’s absence for this tournament – the forward who has been India’s primary drag flick threat in recent times – Manisha and debutant Annu have been tasked with flicking from short corners. But the primary options have been to go for Navneet Kaur or Udita for low slaps and angular hits. When presented with chances in the earlier matches, Manisha had not been able to convert despite drawing saves from the opponent’s goalkeepers. In the 40th minute against Italy, with pressure mounting on India to find the breakthrough, Manisha managed to keep her flick on target but it still needed a significant helping hand – or stick – from Italy as the ball looped over goalkeeper Lucia Caruso after taking a deflection off Sofia Laurito. Worryingly, though, that was the only Penalty Corner converted by India from nine opportunities in this match. In the opening exchanges, Italy barely had a whiff down India’s half, but despite dominating possession, the hosts did not really trouble the low block that the Europeans were employing. By crowding the midfield and defence, they limited India to just passive threats outside and at the edge of the circle. In fact, Lola Brea, Italy’s best bet going forward, dropped her shoulder at the edge of the circle to beat Udita’s marking but missed a great chance to test Bichu Devi. India started the second quarter better, with Sunelita Toppo combining down the left with Navneet to fashion the first of many PCs of the night. But the injection-trapping mechanism failed for the hosts. From their second PC shortly after, Salima Tete found herself in a good scoring position after Udita found her with a variation from the first battery. But Salima’s push towards goal was deflected wide from a tight angle. From their third PC, Navneet’s attempt to find a deflection through another variation didn’t come to fruition either. The first big attacking threat of the second half came from Italy as Bichu was forced into a save off Emilia Munitis after a counterattack down the right flank. Then came what could have been an outrageous goal for India, as Navneet Kaur produced a sensational turn of individual skill, 3D-ing past a couple of defenders, producing a magical 360-degree spin to eliminate some more markers, but her final pass was just ahead of Ishika’s stick from close range. The breakthrough finally came from a careless mistake in defence from Italy for not giving 5m to Rutuja at the edge of the circle, which gave India their first PC of the second half, and Manisha stepped up to convert.Story continues below this ad A 1-0 lead ahead of the final quarter was not ideal, as Italy had shown enough threat on the counter. In the first couple of minutes, India won another PC and this time it was Annu’s turn to go for the dragflick that was saved superbly to her right by Caruso. With just under five minutes back, Italy removed their goalkeeper to employ 11 outfield players in search of that equaliser and they were able to finally make the numerical advantage translate into something tangible. After a couple of minutes of sustained onslaught on India’s defence, Italy celebrated winning their first PC of the night with 77 seconds left. But Navneet, who has been India’s best attacking player through the tournament, came up with a critical touch in defence with a goal-line clearance at the post to deny Federica Carta. It was as good as a goal scored by Navneet. India held on, but England might not be as accommodating in the quest for gold on Saturday if the performance improvement demanded by Marjine doesn’t materialise in less than 24 hours.
Hockey WC Qualifiers: Below-par India edge past Italy 1-0 to reach final, England won’t make their life easy in title clash
