India has its task cut out against favourite Germany

Indian women's hockey team faces Germany in the semifinals of the Olympic Qualifiers, hoping to secure a spot in the final.

Back in the race after a disappointing start, the Indian women’s hockey team will be hoping to keep the winning momentum going when it takes on Germany in the semifinals of the Olympic Qualifiers here on Thursday in its toughest game of the competition.

It isn’t often that India starts the underdog in a match at home but with favourites Germany, the host would have to be at its best to find a way through to the final and a confirmed Olympic ticket.

A loss won’t be the end of the road, with a second chance in the third place play-off, but Savita & Co. will want to avoid getting into another must-win situation. Germany, on the other hand, will be keen to reiterate its superiority and prove its own draw against Japan with numerous missed chances was a rare off day on the field.

While the numbers favour Germany, India will have the crowd in its corner. The teams played thrice in 2023 with Germany winning them all, besides the practice game before the start of the Qualifiers. The last time India won was on shootouts during the Pro-League in 2022. A regulation win was last achieved in a test match in 2015.

“We were prepared for this scenario. We knew right from the start that anything could happen — we could top the pool and play Japan or Chile or finish second and play Germany in the semifinals, there were no doubts or assumptions and we prepared for every opponent. So we are not really worried,” Savita said on the eve of the match.

“Everyone knows what they are but we know we have to play attacking hockey, which is our strength. Germany is a very fit team, it has a lot of skilled individual players and they can attack fast. Defence will be very important and it will be our main focus, we need to play together and attack and defend as a team. We need to be good in counter control but we will also play our natural aggressive game,” she added.

After the disappointing 1-1 draw against Japan, Germany bounced back with a massive 10-0 win against Czech Republic to finish on top of Pool A and coach Valentin Altenburg, who had said his team needed to work out ways to open up defences, will be hoping to build on the victory.