India beat Chile to win Hockey World League Round 2, qualify for Semi-final

India defeated Chile 3-1 after a shoot-out to win the Women's Hockey World League Round 2 and qualify for the World League Semi-final in Vancouver on Monday.

The match went into the shoot-out after both the teams were locked at 1-1 at the end of the regulation time.

Savita Punia, who was adjudged the goalkeeper of the tournament, was consistent under the bar as she denied scoring chances to Kim Jacob and Josefa Villalabeitia, giving India a head start in the shoot-out.

Captain Rani Rampal and Monika Malik converted their chances to give India a 2-0 lead.

Chile's Carolina Garcia then scored from their third attempt, but Deepika Thakur found the net to seal the match for India.

Despite conceding an early goal in the fifth minute when Maria Maldonado scored for Chile, the Indian team stayed firm, coming up with a good defensive structure to keep Chile from scoring again.

India earned their first penalty corner in the 22nd minute, but the effort was saved by Chile goalkeeper Claudia Schuler.

Chile continued to stay in lead until the third quarter, when Anupa Barla successfully converted a penalty corner in the 41st minute to level the scores.

"It was a very good match and we are happy with the way we played. Chile was a tough side to beat and we really had to keep ourselves motivated to keep pushing for a goal after they took an early lead. We are extremely thrilled to be through to the World League Semi-Final," Rani said.