The Indian hockey team stormed into the FIH Women’s Nations Cup 2025-26 final after dominating Chile 6-0 in the semis at the North Harbour National Hockey Centre in Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday.
Navneet Kaur (6’, 13’) and Deepika (14′, 18’) netted a brace each while Neha (32’) and Rutuja Pisal (36’) scored the goals for India, who are placed ninth in the world hockey rankings.
Indian captain Salima Tete was adjudged the Player of the Match for her all-round performance.
India will face the winner of the other semi-final match between hosts New Zealand and the USA in the FIH Nations Cup final on Sunday.
A win in that match will see India earn promotion back to the Women’s FIH Pro League for the 2026-27 season, which is designated as an LA 2028 Olympic qualifier.
The Indian team was relegated to the FIH Nations Cup after finishing at the bottom of the table in the 2024-25 season of the Pro League.
India, who had won the inaugural FIH Nations Cup back in 2022, took an early lead with Navneet Kaur converting a penalty corner six minutes into the match. The veteran striker followed up with a field goal minutes later to make it 2-0.
Deepika struck in the very next minute, converting a penalty corner to give India a 3-0 advantage in the first quarter itself.
India made it 4-0 minutes into the second period with Deepika converting another set piece to bring up her sixth goal of the tournament. The Indian team headed into the half-time break with a four-goal lead.
Firmly in control, India then dictated the game in the second-half.
Neha converted another penalty corner and Rutuja Pisal scored a field goal in the third quarter to essentially kill the match off.
Savita Punia was called into action by the Chilean forwards in the final quarter and made a couple of brilliant saves.
India are still unbeaten in the FIH Nations Cup 2026, having gone through the group stage unbeaten with wins over USA, Japan and Uruguay.
read more: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/fih-nations-cup-2025-26-women-india-vs-chile-semi-final-match-report
