Analysing India’s pool at the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup 2022

The Nabhvarna have been paired alongside England, China, and New Zealand in Group B.

With less than a week to go for the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup 2022, we look at India’s pool and analyse their opponents. The Indian Eves have been placed in Pool B alongside England, China and New Zealand.

England

Scheduled to meet England in their opening match on the 3rd of July, India will look to avenge their heartbreaking loss in the bronze medal match from Tokyo. While the two teams were set to meet in the currently ongoing FIH Pro League, England had to back out due to the players being unavailable. Most players were off at their domestic club competitions, while some were out due to COVID-19. India was awarded six points as England conceded their two matches. In their last five encounters versus England/Great Britain, India has failed to win a single game, drawing two and losing three of them.

England are ranked two places above India in the current rankings at fourth and will prove to be the biggest challenge in the group stages. They will be favourites in the fixture and are expected to top the group.

China

India have faced China three times already this year and came out on the winning side on all three occasions. The Indian Eves scored 11 goals across the games and conceded only twice. While this fixture favours India, China has shown some great signs of improvement in their recent fixtures in the FIH Pro League. They beat England and USA and managed draws versus Spain and Belgium.

These recent results don’t come as a surprise as the team secured the services of Alyson Annan, one of world hockey’s most successful coaches in May. Annan left the Netherlands squad in January and has joined coach Chen Dekang at the Chinese camp.

India will walk in as favourites in this fixture but expect a tough game.

New Zealand

A team that has been away from the limelight of world hockey for a while, New Zealand are coming off a test series versus neighbours Australia. The Trans-Tasman teams withdrew from the FIH Pro League this season due to the pandemic and travel restrictions that came with it. The four-match series was won by Australia 2-0, with two games resulting in draws but New Zealand showed great defensive structure in the series.

Going back to the Tokyo games, New Zealand also beat the silver-medallists Argentina quite comfortably in the group stages. They fell short in the quarter-finals to eventual champions Netherlands. Since then, the team has played very few competitive games in comparison to the European teams and India.

India last played the Vantage Black Sticks five years ago in a five match test series. The Indian Eves lost all 5 games with an aggregate of 24-7. Since then, the Indian team has transformed into a different beast under Sjoerd Marijne and Janneke Schopman but New Zealand still hold the upper hand in history of this fixture.

All four teams will be aiming to make the quarter-finals directly by securing the top spot in the group. A second or third place finish in the group stages will send the teams to Terrassa, Spain for the cross-overs round. A win there will take them to the quarter-finals round where the Indian team fell short to Ireland in the previous World Cup edition.

Reaching the knockouts should be the bare minimum for the Savita Punia led Indian side. After the success at Tokyo, there will a lot more eyes watching the girls who are looking to win India’s first medal at the World Cup. The tournament kicks off on 1st July with Spain taking on Canada in Pool C. India opens its account two days later versus England.

India’s fixtures:

3rd July – vs England, 8 pm IST5th July – vs China, 8 pm IST7th July – vs New Zealand, 11 pm IST

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