India seek big win against Wales to qualify directly for quarter-finals

Bhubaneswar: An unbeaten India will seek to address their penalty-corner woes to post a big win against bottom-placed debutants Wales in their final pool match and qualify directly for the quarter-finals of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup here on Thursday.

India and England are on four points each after two matches with the latter ahead on goal difference -- plus five as against the hosts’ plus two. India, though, will have the advantage of knowing what to do before their match as they play after England’s game against Spain on Thursday.

If England lose or draw against Spain, there will be no headache for India as they just need to beat Wales by any margin to top Pool D -- considered the group of death -- and qualify directly for the quarter-finals.

If England beat Spain, then India will need to defeat Wales by at least five goals. The number of goals India need to score will keep on increasing depending on England’s victory margin.

If two teams are on equal points and have the same number of wins, the rankings in the pool stage are decided on the basis of goal difference.

In any case, India will not be knocked out of the tournament as they will finish second if they beat Wales -- a task they are expected to accomplish. If India finish second in Pool D, they will play the third-place team in Pool C, which could be either New Zealand or Malaysia in the ‘crossover’ round.

India had beaten Spain 2-0 before drawing England 0-0, both matches played at the new Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela. They are going to play at the Kalinga Stadium for the first time in this World Cup.

The winning team in each of the four pools qualifies directly for the quarter-finals. The second and third-placed finishers in each pool will feature in crossover matches. A second-place finisher of a pool will play a third-place side of another pool and the winning team will face a pool topper in the quarter-finals.

If India top Pool D and qualify directly for the quarter-finals, they will play one match less and that may keep them fresh for the last-eight stage.

“If we top our pool, we will play one match less and that will be good for us.

We will try to play our best and play our normal game and execute our plans,” said midfielder Manpreet Singh, who had led India to a historic bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

The main concern for India is their rate of penalty-corner conversion.