The FIH Women’s Nation Cup 2022 title win is just what India needed ahead of the 2023 Asian Games

India beat Spain to win the title at 2022 Women's FIH Hockey Nations Cup. (Photo: Twitter)

India’s title win in the inaugural FIH (International Hockey Federation's) Women’s Nation Cup in Valencia a few days ago comes at the right time for the team — ahead of next year’s Asian Games. But most victories also bring along the burden of expectations, enhanced interest from opponents and the pressure to perform, which will make the team’s journey in the immediate future an interesting one.

India beat Spain 1-0 in the final of the Nation Cup on December 17 to also qualify for the 2023-24 FIH Women’s Pro League. While the Nation Cup only had eight teams — and therefore does not qualify as a global event — the only team in competition ranked higher than India (No. 8) was Spain (7). Spain and India, therefore, were expected to be in the final and either of them good enough to win.

India qualified for the final unbeaten, having taken down Chile (ranked 14 in FIH rankings) 3-1, Japan (11) 2-1, South Africa (22) 2-0 and Ireland (13) 2-1 (in penalties). India scored the most number of goals, nine, in the tournament.

The FIH Nation Cup was created for high-ranked teams that do not play the Pro League, to allow for the promotion-relegation that’s common across sports and leagues. Nine countries played the 2022-23 edition of the Pro League not including India.

“The Pro League will help tremendously because you play the best teams in the world consistently. In the lead up to big tournaments, the ability to play 16 games with top eight is an amazing opportunity,” says chief coach of the Indian women’s team Johanna Dorothea Maria Schopman.

If this qualification to the Pro League adds muscle to India’s Asian Games ambitions, several previous performances have indicated to the team’s growing confidence. India beat China 2-0 (currently ranked 10) in the Asia Cup 2022 in Muscat earlier this year for their third bronze medal in the event. This was followed by a bronze at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in August.

At the Tokyo 2020 (2021) Olympics, the Indian women came within touching distance of a medal, losing the bronze medal match 3-4 to Great Britain. Only once before had India finished fourth — in Moscow in 1980 in a six-team competition.

But India’s path to the semi-final in Tokyo was not a convincing one. The team lost its first three matches, 1-5 to Netherlands, 0-2 to Germany and 1-4 to Great Britain. Wins in the last two matches, against relatively weaker teams like Ireland (1-0) and South Africa (4-3) dragged the team into the quarter-finals. Here, the Indian women got their biggest win of the tournament, a 1-0 upset over Australia, which took them to the semi-final against Argentina. The sequence of results showed, if anything, that the gap between India and other top teams was significant — with the result against Australia being the exception.

“We are not winning consistently against higher ranked players,” Schopman says through voice notes. “But the Pro League showed we can beat countries like Argentina (India played the 2020-21 and 2021-22 editions). It’s got to do with development and it’s definitely visible in statistics of the games where we have more of the ball, created more opportunities. We have to make sure we convert those opportunities. Players have to play at that high level to become a consistent force.”

Similarly in the Commonwealth Games, India defeated lower ranked teams, Ghana 5-0, Wales 3-1, Canada 3-2, but lost to the more established team England 1-3. However, the women did manage two strong performances, interestingly enough, drawing with Australia 1-1 and beating New Zealand (2-1 on penalties) in the bronze medal match.

Their performances have also been somewhat overshadowed by the men. If the women finished fourth in Tokyo, the men got a bronze. If the women got a bronze medal in Birmingham, the men got silver — even if it was after a 0-7 thrashing from Australia in the final.

India has won the Asian Games gold medal in women’s hockey just once, when the Games were held in India in 1982. They came close in the previous edition at Jakarta, reaching the Asiad 2018 final for the first time in 20 years before losing 1-2 to Japan. It was a heart-breaking final because India came so close, prompting the then coach Sjoerd Marijne to say, “Maybe, tomorrow they will realise they won a silver. For today it will feel like they lost the gold.”

The next Hangzhou Games are still nearly a year away, giving the Indian women enough time to not just get over the past, but to take lessons from the past.

In July, India finished ninth in the World Cup held in Spain and Netherlands. Can the team win a major competition? Can they beat the top teams frequently — or at all?

The Pro League will help as the Indian women would get to play against the best teams — only the top nine qualify for this league. Since India does not have a strong domestic structure — and therefore a steady supply of players — the Pro League will give the players valuable exposure, as their chief coach says.

“India has a lot of talent — it’s a matter of making sure you develop your players,” says Schopman, who has played for the Dutch national team. “There is a great effort in improving the coaching education. That will be important to make sure young players develop and can be better.”