Women’s FIH Nations Cup 2022: The Indian women’s Hockey team led by Captain Savita Punia beat Spain 1-0 in the final to win the inaugural FIH Nations Cup played at Valencia, Spain. The win sealed India’s berth in the 2023-24 Pro League.
Gurjit Kaur scored the all-important goal in the sixth minute from the penalty corner as the Commonwealth Games bronze medalists ended the eight-nation tournament with five wins on the trot.
Where it was played?
The inaugural FIH Nations cup was held in Valencia, Spain from 11-17 December 2022. India and Spain had played in the FIH women’s Hockey Pro League 2021-22 season as replacement teams after pull-outs by Australia and New Zealand due to COVID-19-related issues.
“Of course, it feels very good because before leaving we knew that this tournament is very important for us. It is a Pro League qualifying round for us. We competed in Pro League last year so we knew how important it is to play against top teams in order to find out how much improvement we have done as a team. So, before going our target was that if we have to play Pro League next year then it is important to do well in this tournament.
“Pro League is next year and before that Asian game is very important and whatever plans are there for next year’s matches as we have the hockey Test. We are likely going to go to South Africa next year. After that we have to go to the Australia tour or Netherlands tour so the main focus right now is Asian Games, ” said Savita Punia.
India ended the tournament with a perfect record of five wins in five matches. The Indian team beat Chile (3-1), Japan (2-1), and South Africa (2-0) in the group stage before a thrilling 2-1 win over Ireland in the penalty shootout in the semifinal.
Hockey India has announced a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh for every member of the squad and Rs 1 lakh each for all the support staff.
