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India beat Germany 3-1 in the fifth-place classification match at the Wagener Stadium to record their best finish at a Women’s Hockey World Cup since the inaugural edition in 1974. Ishika Chaudhary opened the scoring in the 43rd minute and Navneet Kaur added two in four minutes. India conceded six goals across six matches and lost only once all tournament.
Amstelveen, Netherlands: For forty-two minutes on Thursday, nothing happened. Then India scored three times in five minutes and produced their best World Cup result in fifty-two years.
Ishika Chaudhary made the first, driving into the circle and finishing with a reverse lift in the 43rd. Navneet Kaur converted India’s first penalty corner of the match a minute later. In the 47th she lifted a third calmly over the German goalkeeper, and a match that had been drifting was gone.
Lynn Krings pulled one back from a rebound in the 59th. It was too late to matter.
Fifty-Two Years
The number that gives this result its weight is 1974.
That was the first Women’s Hockey World Cup, and India finished fourth under the captaincy of Ajinder Kaur. No Indian side has bettered it since, and none until now has come this close. Fifth place in Amstelveen is the first time in more than half a century that the team has finished inside the top five at this tournament.
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Eleven of the players who achieved it were making their World Cup debuts.
The Man Who Has Been Here Before
Sjoerd Marijne jumped when the final hooter went, and he had reason to. The Dutchman coached India to fourth at the Tokyo Olympics, the campaign that changed how Indian women’s hockey saw itself, and he has now delivered its best World Cup showing in five decades.
There was a further layer to Thursday. Germany are coached by Janneke Schopman, who was Marijne’s assistant during that Tokyo run and later took charge of India herself. The two sides had met twice in practice matches before this tournament, and Germany won both.
A Campaign Built on Defence
India lost one match in six. They conceded six goals in the entire competition.
The run began with a 2-2 draw against China, the Olympic silver medallists, and a 6-1 win over South Africa. Then came a goalless draw with England in which the English had eleven penalty corners and scored from none.
The second round brought the only defeat, 0-2 to the Netherlands, and then the cruellest result of the fortnight: a 0-0 draw with Australia that eliminated India on the third tiebreaker. Both sides finished level on points and on goal difference, separated only by goals scored — three to India’s two.
That single goal cost them a semi-final. It did not cost them the tournament’s respect.
Both Goalkeepers Earn It
Germany had the better of a first half in which they held more possession and won a series of penalty corners. Bichu Devi Kharibam kept them out. Savita Punia, later, made a crucial penalty-corner save in the final quarter as Germany pushed for a way back.
Against a side ranked fifth in the world, four places above them, India did not concede until the 59th minute.
What It Sets Up
The Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya follow next month, and Salima Tete’s side arrive with a genuine argument for a podium. In three weeks in the Netherlands they have drawn with China, England and Australia and beaten South Africa and Germany, losing only to the hosts.
The Indian men play Belgium in their own seventh-place playoff on Friday, having finished bottom of Pool E without a point.
Score: India 3 (Ishika Chaudhary 43′, Navneet Kaur 44′, 47′) Germany 1 (Lynn Krings 59′)
Final position: India 5th
Tournament record: Played 6, won 2, drew 3, lost 1 — six goals conceded
Venue: Wagener Stadium, Amstelveen
