Field Hockey
Jonathan Selvaraj, ESPN 6y

India's mantra against Ireland: Convert PCs and hold your nerve

Field Hockey

India created history on Tuesday night in London, beating Italy to assure themselves of a top-eight finish in the Hockey Women's World Cup after 40 years. On Thursday, they could go even further. Should they beat Ireland, they would be in the semifinals for the first time since the opening edition of the women's tournament in 1974.

On paper, this is as good a chance as any for India to reach the final four. Ranked 16th in the world, a rapidly-improving Ireland are the lowest-ranked team to get to this edition's knockout stage, their best performance at the World Cup. Getting past Ireland will be doubly satisfying, considering India have lost their last two matches against them, including their only loss in this tournament. 

"Though we lost against Ireland in the Pool Stage, we know we played really well that day but we did not put the ball in the goal. Now we have a golden opportunity to beat them in the quarterfinal," says India captain Rani Rampal.

Two-time Olympian and coach Jagbir Singh agrees."Our objective is clear and there's no real reason we shouldn't beat them as long as we have learned our lessons from our previous game against them," he says.

Penalty corner conversion

India converted a dismal 0/7 penalty corners in the previous game against Ireland. "We weren't the only team who they conceded a lot of penalty corners against. Even their coach has said their biggest worry was in giving away penalty corners. So the most room for us to improve is in our PC conversion," says Jagbir.

India have a powerful drag flicker in Gurjit Kaur, but Jagbir believes she isn't getting the best push from the short corner. "Gurjit takes a long stride to get to the ball. So if the service is slow, that is giving the defenders a lot more time to get close to her. That is something we need to figure out," he says.

Avoiding the counter

Getting hit on the counter is another vulnerability India will need to guard against. "Ireland are making use of the long 40-50 yard crosses to the front line. They are looking to get into a situation where they take on the final couple of defenders, and because they are physically strong, they are able to do that," says Jabgir.

He points out four players in particular that Ireland will play through. In the front line, there is Deirdre Duke, who has scored two field goals against the U.S., as well as Nikki Evans, and the combative Anna O'Flannagan, while captain Kathryn Mullan has marshalled the midfield expertly. "They will have certain of our players in mind and we too will have to mark these players well," says Jagbir.

Build on self-belief

In India's favour though will be the fact that they are coming off a win albeit against lower-ranked Italy. "Momentum has a very good role to play. Once you start winning, a lot of things fall into place. If you get a good start against Ireland, it will be difficult to stop that momentum," he says. Rani too states the team is full of confidence after their comprehensive 3-0 win. "In the previous three matches in the pool stage, we were doing everything except scoring. But on Tuesday, we ticked that box right and we have realised that it all boils down to the self-belief we have," says Rani.

Controlling nerves

Regardless India will know this is their best chance in many years. "For us, it is a once-in-a-lifetime moment to be playing the quarterfinal of the biggest event in hockey," says Rani. Faced with the prospect of reaching the final four, the team will likely be playing under pressure. "They are at this stage after a very long time and there is quite a lot of interest in their performance. There is bound to be a lot of excitement in the Indian team tonight. I wouldn't be surprised if many of them won't sleep well at all tomorrow night. This will be a high-pressure game for them and how they handle their nerves will be crucial," she says.

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