The Indian women’s hockey team appeared to have put their past struggles behind them as they continued their impressive run at the Nations Cup, thrashing Chile 6-0 in the semifinals in Auckland on Saturday to set up a title clash against hosts New Zealand on Sunday.Navneet Kaur (6′, 13′) and Deepika (14′, 18′) scored two goals each, while Neha (36′) and Rutuja Dadaso Pisal (39′) found the back of the net once. New Zealand, meanwhile, beat the USA 4-1 in a shootout after their semi-final ended 1-1 in regular time.The final promises to be an exciting contest as both India and New Zealand have won all their four matches so far and the hosts also enjoy the home court advantage.India, however, will be full of confidence after a dominant semi-final match where they looked like a well-oiled machine.The Sjoerd Marijne-coached side moved the ball fluently, linked up well across the pitch and, most importantly, converted their chances – something they constantly struggled to do despite winning all of their group stage matches. They were particularly clinical from corner kicks, converting four of the seven they earned.Salima Tete was once again at the center of India’s attacking play and was rightly named player of the match for her tireless running down the left flank.“We decided as a team before the game that we would play together and that’s exactly what we did. We played good hockey and stuck to our simple game. I’m happy with both the team’s performance and my own,” the India captain said after the match.“We want another win and hope to score more goals.”Earlier, India immediately ran away and took the lead in the sixth minute when Navneet converted his first PC of the match. Seven minutes later she doubled the lead after Salima raced down the left wing and found her in front of the goal for a simple goal.Deepika then converted two straight computers to make it 4-0 and take her tournament tally to six goals in four games.Chile tried to claw their way back into the contest after the break, but India put the score beyond doubt in the third quarter. Neha headed home a Deepika penalty corner for five before Rutuja produced a fine finish to add a sixth.India won two more penalty kicks in the final quarter, but by then Chile were already out of the contest as India comfortably booked their place in the final.
