India vs Germany Semifinal, FIH Women's Hockey Qualifiers: India lose 3-4 in penalty shootout

Preview: India are just one win away from securing a Paris Olympics berth. To do that, they need to bring out their ‘A’ game to beat higher-ranked Germany in the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers in Ranchi. India bounced back from a disappointing 0-1 defeat to USA in their opener to beat New Zealand and Italy in the subsequent fixtures for a place in the semi-finals. A win over Germany will ensure India book their ticket for a third straight Olympic Games. India produced near-perfect performance in the last two matches with all departments clicking and the Savita Punia-led side would look to replicate that showing in the business end of the tournament. In case India fail to win tonight, they will get another shot in the third-fourth place match against the other losing semi-finalists. But India would be better off approaching the match against Germany with a positive mindset. The best aspect of India’s performance in the last two matches was their backline. The Indian defenders dished out a superlative effort to keep their opponents at bay. They would need much of that against Germany. Since 2006, India have played Germany seven times, winning just two and losing five. So, the odds are against India going into Thursday’s match. But in modern day hockey rankings and past results are mere numbers.