Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Dec 18: The Indian women’s hockey team defeated Spain 1-0 on Saturday in Valencia to claim the first-ever FIH Nations Cup. As a result, the team led by Janneke Schopman has been elevated to the FIH Pro League 2023–24.
Every member of the team will receive a monetary prize of Rs 2 lakh from Hockey India, and all of the support staff will receive Rs 1 lakh each.
Hockey India has announced rewards of Rs 2 lakh each for all the players of the winning team in the FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2022, as well as Rs. 1 lakh each reward for all the support staff .
Congratulations to each and everyone 👏 pic.twitter.com/c7Nq0BxZT8
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) December 17, 2022
Gurjit Kaur’s strong drag flick after a penalty corner in the fifth minute gave the Indian team, which earlier this year won the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, an early lead in the summit match against the Spanish team.
In the 41st minute, the host nation made a valiant effort and appeared to have cracked the Indian defence, which was captained by goalie Savita Punia. The goal, though, was rejected.
Udita, who scored the winning goal against Ireland in the semifinal, was given a green card (a two-minute suspension) for a foul in the 45th minute, temporarily reducing the Indian team to ten players, but the Spanish side was unable to capitalise on the opportunity.
Spain had defeated the women in blue by the same margin in their previous meeting between the two finalists at the FIH Women’s World Cup in July earlier this year.
India finished the competition with a perfect record, winning all five of its games. Prior to a stunning 2-1 victory over Ireland in the penalty shootout in the semifinal, the Indian squad defeated Chile (3-1), Japan (2-1), and South Africa (2-0) in the group stage.
After Australia and New Zealand withdrew due to COVID-19-related problems, India and Spain took their places as substitute teams in the FIH women’s hockey Pro League for the 2021–22 season.
In the 2021–22 FIH Pro League, India came in third place, which was honourable. The nation was not eligible for the current 2022–2023 Pro League season.
