India storm into final of FIH Women Series Finals, secure Olympic qualifiers berth

Hiroshima:  The Indian Women’s team on Saturday secured a place in the final round of Tokyo Olympic qualifiers after beating lower-ranked Chile 4-2 in the semifinals of FIH Series Finals at the Hiroshima Hockey Stadium here in Japan.

Chile took a surprise lead in the 18th minute through Carolina Garcia but India restored parity in the 22nd minute through Gurjit Kaur as the two sides went into the half-time at 1-1.

India then took a two-goal lead with Navneet Kaur scoring in the 31st minute and Gurjit Kaur finding the target for the second time in the 37th minute in the match.

Manuela Urroz scored Chile’s second goal in the 43rd minute to reduce the gap to 3-2 before Indian captain Rani Rampal took the game beyond the reach of the South Americans with a 57th-minute strike.

India will now face the winner of the other semi-final between Russia and Japan, in the final on Sunday.

The top two teams from this tournament qualify for the final round of 2020 Olympics qualifiers to be held later this year.

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