FIH Women's World Cup qualifiers: India down Italy, run into England in final

HYDERABAD: India got the better of Italy 1-0 in the semifinals of the FIH Women’s World Cup Qualifers at the Gachibowli stadium here on Friday. In the final, India face England, who beat Scotland 2-0 in the other last-four clash.Drag-flick specialist Navneet Kaur was offcolour, Manisha Chauhan converted the fourth much to the delight of the full house.

While India struggled to build a decent attack in the first quarter, Italy threatened to score twice with Lola Brea breaking into the circle. But she was not able to breach the Indian defence.India stepped up the attack in the second quarter as Navneet combined well with skipper Salima Tete and Lalremsiami.

India got the first penalty corner due to the good work of Navneet in the 18th minute. Ten minutes later, Salima was pushed near the circle, leading to the second penalty for India.Udita took the penalty corner as Navneet was off the field. Indians cleverly planned the attack. Udita pushed it to Salima, but her shot was deflected by Italian custodian Caruso Lucia.