Wales senior women outperform ranking at World Cup Qualifiers in India

Wales’ women travelled to India with a tough ask, heading into the tournament as one of the lowest rank sides, but came out the other side having once again outperformed their ranking.

Despite a world ranking of 25th, the team’s quality and potential had been on full show in recent times, and the players had proven themselves worthy of the biggest of stages. As Head Coach Kevin Johnson said in the build-up to the competition, “we know we can run teams close, we know what our strengths are and we know how to ride out bits of pressure and dig deep.”

And those qualities were on full show in Wales' opening fixture, forcing a tight game with Scotland.

Their resilience was not the only highlight of the game, either, with Amy Hughes, Tilly Edwards, Holly Done and Jamie Bullbring all making their senior debuts.

In the end, however, the only goal of the match came from the opposition’s vice-captain Amy Costello to inflict a 1-0 defeat on the Welsh.

“We’re really pleased with a lot of areas of our game,” said Johnson after full time. “We’ll recover well and look at how we can improve for (Uruguay).”

And Wales’ ladies did improve for their meeting with Uruguay but, despite a valiant effort and brilliant resilience throughout, the challenge of another higher-ranked team proved too much.

Wales looked on course for a positive bounce back from the opening defeat when Anja Atkin opened the scoring within four minutes. A dogged performance eventually came undone on the stroke of half-time, however, when Manuela Vilar converted a penalty corner to level for the south American outfit.

The match was subsequently lost in the third quarter when Augustina Diaz also scored from a penalty corner and Teresa Viana added another, only for Rachel Goodwin to half the deficit for Wales with a consolation.

The 2-2 draw between Scotland and India a couple of hours later made it impossible for Wales to qualify for the World Cup by the time they took to the field to face their hosts on matchday three.

No matter the result, the meeting with India brought a standout moment in Welsh hockey history, as Sarah Jones made it 200 combined caps for Wales and GB, becoming only the second player to achieve the feat.

With India battling for top spot in Pool B, though, sentiment was set aside and it was a tough day for Wales who were put under pressure early on.

It took Sakshi Rana seven minutes to put her side ahead, before Navneet Kaur added a second and third either side of half time despite a spirited resurgence from Wales in the second quarter.

That fighting spirit did pay off eventually, however, as Betsan Thomas notched her first of the tournament to make it 3-1 in the third quarter.

Wales carried on pushing to add to their tally, but despite earning a penalty stroke with ten minutes to go, couldn’t capitalise on the momentum. Instead, India converted a penalty stroke of their own shortly after, as Kaur completed a hat-trick to help her side see out the victory.

Nevertheless, there were once again plenty of positive points to take from another gritty performance, which they would take into the ranking round.

Korea had placed third in Pool A on points difference alone, missing out on a semi-final place to Italy by two goals; a draw with the Italians and a victory over Austria demonstrated how strong Wales’ next opponents would be.

In a tight encounter, it would take until the fourth quarter for things to really open up; and when Yeongeun Park put her side ahead moments after the restart, only for Wales skipper Beth Bingham to level from a penalty corner three minutes afterwards, it set up a thrilling conclusion to the tie.

With the wind in their sails, Wales looked to make the pressure count. Despite a missed penalty corner immediately after the equaliser, the ladies did pull ahead with seven minutes remaining, when Bingham notched again from a penalty stroke.

A solid finish to the game ensured Wales claimed their first win of the tournament and were guaranteed to outperform their ranking for a third tournament on the bounce.

“We’re super proud of the performance today,” stated Izzie Howell. “We battled through the heat and managed to find our quality coming behind to beat a higher ranked team... We stuck together and showed what we’re made of.”

The ladies were subsequently unable to exert revenge on Uruguay in the 5th / 6th play-off, as the South American outfit claimed their second win over Wales of the tournament.

“I’m disappointed with the result but proud of our performance,” Wales captain Bingham said after the game.

A 3-0 defeat meant Wales finished 6th in India but, having once again bettered their pre-tournament ranking, it was an overall performance to be proud of and, as Bingham stated, “reflective of the direction this group is moving in.”

Hoci Cymru’s senior women will now take the plenty of positives from India into preparation for next year’s Euros.