CWG 2022: Indian women’s hockey team takes Canada down

Birmingham, August 3

The Indian women’s hockey team survived some anxious moments before beating the lower-ranked Canada 3-2 in its must-win Pool A match to qualify for the semifinals of the Commonwealth Games here today.

The Indians looked in control of the match till the 22nd minute, with Salima Tete (3rd minute) and Navneet Kaur (22nd) putting India 2-0 ahead. However, the Canadians clawed back into the match with goals from Brienne Stairs (23rd) and Hannah Haughn (39th).

With England already assured of a semifinals berth with a 3-1 win over India on Tuesday, it was a do-or-die match for the Savita Punia-led side. For Canada, a draw would have been enough to progress as they had a superior goal difference to India’s.

With the tie locked 2-2, Janneke Schopman’s charges responded brilliantly and eventually Lalremsiami (51st) scored off a rebound after a penalty corner.

Men hammer Canada 8-0

Harmanpreet Singh and Akashdeep Singh scored a brace each as the men routed Canada 8-0 in their third match. Harmanpreet (7th, 54th minute) converted two penalty corners while Akashdeep Singh (38th, 60th) scored two fine field goals. Amit Rohidas (10th), Lalit Upadhyay (20th), Gurjant Singh (27th) and Mandeep Singh (58th) were the other goal scorers for India.