Ireland’s Nicola Evans and Katie Mullan celebrate after the win over India. Inpho/Joe Toth photo.
By Irish Echo Staff
The Irish are turning into hockey’s Croatia.
The Irish women’s field hockey team today triumphed over India for a second time in the World Cup being played in London and now advance to a semi-final clash with Spain on Saturday.
Ireland had qualified for the knockout stage for the first time ever by beating the United States and India in group play.
India made the quarter final after a playoff, but Ireland again beat the Indian women, this time by 3-1 in a shootout at Lee Valley Stadium.
“A quarter-final was a bonus but a semi-final? This was nowhere in even the most fanciful of predictions from the side ranked second lowest on the list, one who had previously had to pay to be part of the programme and was outgunned in terms of resources by many multiples,” was how an Irish Times report assessed the Irish performance in the tournament thus far.
By making the semi-final, the Irish women are now assured of playing for bronze medals at the very least.
