The Indian Women’s Hockey Team were crowned champions of the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup New Zealand 2025-26 after a 2-0 win over hosts New Zealand in the final at Auckland on Sunday. India made the perfect start, with Navneet Kaur opening the scoring in the fourth minute through a powerful penalty-corner strike. Sunelita Toppo doubled the advantage in the 15th minute, expertly deflecting in Deepika’s effort from another penalty corner to put India firmly in command.
From there, the Indian side put in a disciplined and resilient defensive display, keeping New Zealand without a clear scoring chance and holding on to their two-goal lead right through to the final whistle. Lalremsiami was named Player of the Match for her performance in the final, while Deepika ended the tournament as joint-highest scorer with six goals, a tally she shared with USA forward Ashley Sessa.
New Zealand won a penalty corner early in the fourth quarter, but goalkeeper Savita came up with a crucial save to keep India’s two-goal cushion intact. India continued to defend with a compact structure, shutting down any opening for the hosts, and saw out the rest of the match comfortably to seal a 2-0 victory and lift the title.
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The triumph gives India their second FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup title, after they won the inaugural edition back in 2022. The win also confirms India’s return to the FIH Hockey Women’s Pro League next season. India went through the tournament unbeaten, beating the USA 3-2, Japan 2-1 and Uruguay 3-2 in the group stage, before a 6-0 demolition of Chile in the semi-final. They rounded off a perfect campaign with the 2-0 win over New Zealand in the final.
To mark the achievement, Hockey India announced a cash reward of ₹3 lakh for each player and ₹1.5 lakh for every member of the support staff.
