India’s task of qualifying for WC becomes tougher

Hands on her knees, a tired Navneet Kaur stared at the turf of the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium as a disappointed Neha Goyal walked back to the dugout. Salima Tete watched the Chinese players celebrate the Asia Cup victory and qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

- Sandip Sikdar

The Indian women's hockey team cut a sorry figure on Sunday evening after losing the final 1-4 to the hosts in Hangzhou. It wasn't as if they didn't try. In fact, India was the only team to score and also take a lead against world No.4 China in the entire tournament.

Just like the Super 4s contest, which India had also lost 1-4, the Salima-led side battled hard against the Paris Olympics silver medallists but eventually ran out of steam in the final quarter.

A team in transition, India was without veteran goalkeeper Savita Punia and drag-flicker Deepika Sehrawat, performing well to emerge as the second-best team in Asia, only losing to the reigning Asian Games champions. But that isn't going to be enough.

Ranked No.9 in the world, India had already missed the bus to the Paris Olympics last year. After losing eight successive matches in the European leg of the Pro League, India were relegated to the Nations Cup in June.