As the world still celebrates the historic Argentine victory in the FIFA World Cup, another historic win took place closer to home. On 17th December 2022, the Indian Women's Hockey Team, captained by Savita Punia, defeated Spain 1-0 in the Final to win the FIH Women's Nations Cup 2022 in Valencia, Spain. It is not being talked about enough in the media but by no means does that diminish the incredible achievement of these Indian athletes.
The win means that Janneke Schopman-coached Indian side has been qualified directly to play in the FIH Pro League 2023-24. Hockey India has announced a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh for every member of the squad and Rs 1 lakh each for all the support staff. India ended the tournament with a perfect record of five wins in consecutive five matches. The Indian team beat Chile (3-1), Japan (2-1), and South Africa (2-0) in the group stage before a thrilling 2-1 win over Ireland in a penalty shootout in the semifinal. Commonwealth bronze medalists Gurjit Kaur scored the winning goal in the final while Neha Goyal was declared the best player of the match.
The Women in Blue celebrated their glorious win both on and off the field. While entering their team hotel with their gold medals and the esteemed trophy, the Indian women's hockey team added some Caribbean flavor to their celebrations as they joyously danced to Dwayne Bravo's famous song, Champion. All the players and the support staff jubilantly danced to the beats of the song. There can be no doubt that the Indian Women's Hockey Team will continue to make the country proud in the days to come.