VALENCIA : The Indian women's hockey team will look to carry on their winning run in the FIH Women's Nations Cup 2022 when they face Ireland in the semi final on Friday.

The Savita-led Indian side started their campaign with a convincing 3-1 victory over Chile, followed by victories over Japan and South Africa to finish first in Pool B with nine points and advance to the semifinals.

The FIH Women's Nations Cup 2022 will see the introduction of a promotion-relegation system, with the winners being promoted to the FIH Hockey Women's Pro League for the 2023–24 season.

"So far in the FIH Women's Nations Cup 2022, we have displayed excellent performance. It was a great game versus Chile since we dominated right away. Our performance against Japan, a formidable defensive squad that usually poses a test to us, was strong, as captain Savita noted about her team's performance.

In the most recent encounter against South Africa, "our players brought their A-game to the field, giving us a lot of confidence coming into the semi Final," she said. The captain continued by saying that her team was adamant about competing for the championship.

Naturally, we want to win the competition since it will provide us the opportunity to compete in the 2023–2024 FIH Hockey Women's Pro League. We took part in the tournament's prior iteration, and it was a tremendous experience. Playing in the Pro League will serve as a fantastic preparation for Asian Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics," she said.

The Indian squad is looking forward to playing their "A" game against the Irish team, Savita said, expressing excitement about their impending match against Ireland.

"As I stated, we'll try to beat Ireland to extend our winning streak. They had a strong team and placed second in Pool A. We will utilise every tool at our disposal to defeat a team like that because they have the ability to upset any team at any time, she added.

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