India beat Chile 6-0 to set up the Nations Cup final against New Zealand

Deepika (left) with Suchila Chanu after one of her two goals in Auckland on Saturday (Image credit: Hockey India) 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, beating Chile 6-0 in the semifinals in Auckland on Saturday to set up the title game against hosts New Zealand on Sunday.Navneet Kaur (6′, 13′) and Deepika (14′, 18′) scored two goals each, Neha (36′) and Rutuja Dadaso Pisal (39′) found the net once. Meanwhile, New Zealand beat the USA 4-1 in a shootout after their semi-final ended 1-1 in regulation time.The final promises to be an enthralling contest as both India and New Zealand have won all four of their matches so far and the hosts also enjoy home advantage.However, India will be brimming with confidence after a dominant semi-final show in which they looked like a well-oiled machine.The Sjoerd Marijne-coached side moved the ball fluidly, linked up well around the pitch and most importantly converted their chances – something they consistently struggled to do despite winning all of their group stage matches. They were particularly clinical from penalty corners, converting four of the seven they took.Salima Tete was once again at the heart of India’s attacking play and was rightly named Player of the Match for her tireless running down the left wing.“As a team we decided before the match that we would play together and that’s exactly what we did. We played good hockey and stuck to our simple game. I am happy with both the team’s performance and my own,” the India captain said after the match.“We want another win and hopefully score even more goals.”Earlier, India were immediately out of the blocks and took the lead in the sixth minute when Navneet converted his first PC of the match. She doubled the advantage seven minutes later when Salima raced down the left wing and found her in front of goal for a simple finish.Deepika then converted two consecutive PCs to make it 4-0 and take her tournament tally to six goals in four matches.Chile struggled to find a way back into the match after the break, but India never doubted the result in the third quarter. Neha touched Deepika’s penalty corner to make it five before Rutuja finished with a fine finish to add a sixth.India won two more penalty corners in the last quarter but by then Chile were out of the contest as India comfortably secured their place in the final.