India win FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup in Auckland, qualify for Pro League

Two early goals through Navneet Kaur and Sunelita Toppo paved the way for India’s win in the final against New Zealand. The USA finished third.

Indian team players celebrate after winning FIH Nations Cup title. Picture credit: FIH

Two early goals by Navneet Kaur and Sunelita Toppo in the opening first half gave India a solid start against hosts New Zealand in the FIH Women’s Nations Cup in Auckland on Sunday. With this win Indian women’s hockey team has qualified for next season of the FIH Hockey Women’s Pro League.

Lalremsiami won the ‘Player of the Match’ award in the final, while Deepika finished as the joint-top scorer in the tournament with six goals to her name – sharing the honours with USA’s Ashley Sessa. This is India’s second Nations Cup title, having won the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2022.

India remained unbeaten throughout their campaign, defeating USA (3-2), Japan (2-1), and Uruguay (3-2) in the Pool A matches, before registering a commanding 6-0 win over Chile in the semi-final. They delivered an excellent performance in the final to clinch the title with a 2-0 victory over New Zealand.

Hockey India announced a cash award of Rs 3 lakh for each player and Rs 1.5 lakh for each member of the support staff.

EOM