India storm into final

Bhubaneswar, June 14 

India outplayed reigning Asian Games champions Japan 7-2 to storm into the summit clash of the FIH Series Finals here today, also sealing a place in the final Olympics qualifying event.

Returning to the side after a long injury lay-off, Ramandeep Singh (23rd, 37th minutes) finally got his mojo back with a double-strike, while Harmanpreet Singh (7th), Varun Kumar (14th), Hardik Singh (25th), Gursahibjit Singh (43rd) and Vivek Sagar Prasad (47) got a goal each. Kenji Kitazato (2nd) and Kota Watanabe (20th) scored for Japan. 

Despite having a poor start, India coach Graham Reid said that it was “the first game where I was almost satisfied.” 

India will face South Africa in Saturday’s final. South Africa had defeated USA 2-1 in the first semifinal. — PTI

Women start campaign against Uruguay

Hiroshima: A confident India, led by Rani Rampal, will look to finish at the top and make it to the final qualification round for the Tokyo Olympics when they open their campaign against Uruguay in Pool A of the FIH Women’s Series Finals here tomorrow. World No. 9 India will also face Poland and Fiji in the pool. Teams that reach the final will make it to the Olympics qualifier. “Our only mission this year is to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the athletes are prepared for this challenge,” said chief coach Sjoerd Marijne. “We are better experienced now and the players know the importance of this tournament. The winning team will get 500 ranking points and that gives home advantage for the next round of qualification.” In the warm-up matches, India beat a local club 4-1 followed by a 2-1 win against Japan, who are grouped in Pool B along with Chile, Russia and Mexico. PTI

Junior women’s team holds Belarus 1-1

Baranovichi (Belarus): India’s junior women’s hockey team held Belarus’s senior team to a 1-1 draw. Gagandeep Kaur scored for India. Belarus leads the five-match series 2-1, with one game to go. PTI

Today on TV

Hockey: FIH Series Finals

3rd place: Usa vs Japan 5pm

Final: India vs SA 7:15PM

Star Sports 3