London: India will look to avenge the pool stage loss when they face Ireland in the quarter-final of the women’s hockey World Cup at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre on Thursday.
World No. 10 India last played in a quarter-final encounter 40 years ago in the 1978 Madrid Women’s World Cup.
The team’s semi-final appearance in the inaugural edition of the World Cup in 1974 remains the best Indian performance in the history of the event.
However, these stats would not play on the team’s mind when they take on the World No. 16 Ireland according to team skipper Rani Rampal.
“All I know is, we are not done yet. Our best hockey is yet to come,” she said adding that the only thing on their minds would be to avenge their narrow 1-0 loss in the pool stage to Ireland and book a place in the semi-finals against the winners of Spain v Germany quarter-final match.
Rani said: “Though we lost against Ireland, we know we played really well that day but we did not put the ball in the goal. Now we have a golden opportunity to beat them.”
