Ranchi, (Samajweekly) World No. 5 Germany and No. 24th ranked the United States booked their berths in the Paris Olympic Games to be played later in the year by winning their respective semifinal matches in the women’s FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers here on Thursday, leaving hosts India and Asian rivals Japan to fight it out for the third qualifying berth available in this event.
The United States were the first to book their berth to Paris from Ranchi when they prevailed over Japan 2-1 in the first semifinal.
Germany then bagged their ticket to the French Capital with a 2-2, 4-3 win in a sudden death shoot-out coming back from a goal down to take a 2-1 lead in the regulation time before the hosts levelled scores in regulation time. Valentin Altenburg’s side was again trailing 2-1 in the shoot-out but came back again as Navneet Kaur and Neha missed their attempts for India.
In the Sudden Death, Sonika missed her attempt as did Linnea Weidemann. Sangita missed her second chance as she shot wide while Sonja Zimmermann scored to seal a 4-3 victory for Germany in sudden death and a berth in the final.
The hosts were left heartbroken after staging a brilliant fightback and dominating possession after a team ranked a spot higher than them.
Earlier in regulation time, India looked down and out after Charlotte Stapenhorst scored in the 57th minute to give Germany a 2-1 lead after she had earlier cancelled out India’s lead earned through a superb penalty corner conversion by Deepika. With just seconds remaining on the clock, Ishita Chaudhary scored a dream goal off a penalty corner to make it 2-2. But in the end that fightback was not enough to help the hosts win.
The United States, who won a bronze at home in the 1984 edition, fought back brilliantly to return to the Olympics for the seventh time, the last appearance coming at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.
The United States came to India as the least favourite among the contenders but were the first to clinch a berth in the Olympics as they rode on an undying spirit, defending stoutly as they remained unbeaten so far, conceding only one goal in four matches.
David Passmore’s team chased the game throughout as Japan held the advantage. The former Asian Games gold medallist seemed to clinch the issue when Amiru Shimada scored in the 38th minute off a penalty corner on a cold and foggy evening at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astro-Turf Hockey Stadium here.
In classification matches played earlier in the day, Italy and New Zealand set up a clash to decide the fifth and sixth spots as they won their respective matches.
Italy defeated Chile 2-1 in a shoot-out after both the teams ended 2-2 in regulation time after the South Americans scored a late goal to tie the scores in regulation time.
New Zealand were thwarted by the Czech Republic in the first three quarters before they scored twice in the last three minutes of the match to seal victory. They will now hope to salvage so much pride by beating Italy and claiming the fifth spot in the event in which they were one of the favourites for the Olympic berth.
