Auckland [New Zealand], June 23 (ANI): India registered an exceptional title win on the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup New Zealand 2025-26 in Auckland, defeating the hosts 2-0 in an exhilarating ultimate.
This spectacular victory earned the crew a well-deserved promotion to the subsequent season of the FIH Pro League.
India remained unbeaten all through their dominant marketing campaign, defeating the USA, Japan and Uruguay within the pool stage; Chile within the semi-finals; and New Zealand within the ultimate.
The title-deciding match noticed early targets from Navneet Kaur within the fourth minute and Sunelita Toppo within the fifteenth, which proved decisive.
Striker Lalremsiami secured the ‘Player of the Match’ award for her distinctive efficiency within the ultimate, whereas drag-flicker Deepika completed because the joint top-scorer of the event with six targets. She shared the honours with the USA’s Ashley Sessa.
To honour the crew’s achievement, Hockey India introduced a money reward of Rs 3 lakh for every participant and Rs 1.5 lakh for every member of the help employees.
Expressing immense satisfaction after the crew’s victory, chief coach Sjoerd Marijne praised the expansion of the squad. ‘Of course, we’re delighted to win our first event and ultimate collectively. It was essential for us to discover ways to win finals, particularly after our current heartbreak in opposition to England on the World Cup qualifier. The crew improved with each match. We relied on a really robust and well-organised defence,’ he stated.
‘While we created sufficient alternatives to attain extra, that continues to be an space the place we should hold working. Our penalty-corner conversion was superb all through this event. If we will obtain a better conversion charge for discipline targets, that will likely be improbable. It isn’t straightforward to win a event if you enter because the highest-ranked crew. We confirmed that we will handle that stress nicely. Moving ahead, taking part in in opposition to the highest groups on this planet will present an necessary studying course of for our kids. Testing ourselves on the highest degree is precisely what we have to develop to the subsequent tier.’
Captain Salima Tete echoed Marijne’s sentiments and highlighted the extreme preparation behind the victory. ‘It feels completely wonderful to raise this trophy. Our complete crew labored extremely onerous for this second. We entered this event with a transparent mindset to carry the trophy residence. Securing promotion again to the Pro League was extraordinarily necessary for us. I’m proud that we achieved our purpose,’ the skipper stated.
‘With the World Cup approaching, this victory supplies a large enhance to our confidence. The crew is taking part in with a really robust mindset proper now. Every single match on this event was extremely necessary for us. This win provides us the proper momentum for our future preparations,’ Salima concluded. (ANI)