Hiroshima: Title contenders India will start as overwhelming favourites against lower-ranked Chile in the semifinals of the women’s FIH Series Finals hockey tournament here Saturday.
The ninth ranked Indians are unbeaten so far in the tournament, having registered comfortable wins over Uruguay (4-1), Poland (5-0) and Fiji (11-0).
And going by their world rankings and current form, India are expected to win hands down against world no. 16 Chile.
India are just one win away from securing their place in the final round of Tokyo Olympic qualifiers to be held later this year with two top spots up for grabs from here. And achieving that goal should not be much of a problem for the India eves.
In all their pool matches, India had plenty of scoring opportunities but conversion rate is an area which is of a little concern for chief coach Sjoerd Marijne. “We want to perform at the highest level possible and I believe there is still room for improvement,” Marijne had said.
In the last match against world no. 44 Fiji, Gurjit Kaur slammed four goals, including a hat-trick and the drag-flicker would look to carry her form in the remaining games of the tournament. (PTI)
