S2H Team

India cruised into the semifinals of the Olympic Qualifiers in Ranchi on Tuesday with a 5-1 victory over Italy but only after a bumpy ride that ended deep into the third quarter.

For the second successive match, India scored in the first minute but a two-goal cushion arrived only from a penalty stroke, and after what seemed to be easy pickings turned into a battle of attrition against an opponent ranked 20th in the world.

And, for the second successive match, Udita had cause to celebrate.

Deepika scores off a stroke earned by Salima Tete

The defensive mainstay celebrated her birthday on Sunday with a goal against New Zealand in a do-or-die encounter and followed it up with the player-of-the-match award to cap a brace of goals from penalty corners.

Udita shot sixth-ranked India ahead from the set-piece with the match only seconds old, stood out in her tireless running the length of the pitch to supplement her defensive duties, and scored another from another penalty to make it 5-0 to raise the decibels at the packed Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh stadium.

Her efforts went a long way to sustaining India’s dream of making their third successive Olympics, the result enabling the hosts to finish second in Pool ‘B’ to the USA who shunted New Zealand out of the race to Paris 2024 with a 1-0 win.

India now are faced with the daunting task of playing Germany in Thursday’s semi-finals for a place in the final and an assured ticket to the French capital in July while the impressive Americans take on Japan in the other semi-final for a berth in the Olympics.

Udita played her 100th match and made it memorable by striking a brace

USA’s win over New Zealand left the home side needing only a draw to make the semi-finals. Only a loss by a four-goal margin would deny India a place in the last four – an improbable scenario by any reckoning.

But despite an early flourish, India finished the first half with a scratchy performance. They breathed easy only in the 41st minute when Deepika converted a penalty stroke to make it 2-0 after Sofia Laurito brought down Lalremsiami following a defensive blunder that gave the Indian forward possession on a platter.

Dutch Head coach Janneke Schopman’s celebration was more of relief after pre-match buoyancy turned to apprehension at the interval. And for good reason.

Until Deepika’s goal, Italy remarkably not just kept their fancied opponents at bay but also carried the spheroid deep into India’s half, fighting tooth-and-nail for possession.

The floodgates opened after that when Salima Tete, once again on fire, capitalized on Navneet’s assist to blast home from an acute angle on the dot of three-quarter time.

Navneet turned scorer with a display of grit, gumption, and individual skill across the face of goal to slot home India’s fourth in the 53rd minute before Udita put the icing on the cake with a slap hit that took the goalkeeper’s pads and went into the net.

Italy, however, gained a consolation with a goal from their fifth penalty corner when Camilla Machin’s deflection went in past Bichu Devi who replaced captain and first-choice goalkeeper Sunita Punia.

Semi-final losers will do battle for the third spot on offer here in the Olympics and will join the top three at another qualifying tournament in Valencia along with hosts France and continental champions China, The Netherlands, Australia, Argentina, and South Africa at the quadrennial extravaganza.