India win women’s Champions Challenge II Hockey

Rani Rampal scored four goals to help India win the inaugural Women’s Champions Challenge-II Hockey title with a thumping 6-3 win over Belgium in the final at Kazan (Russia) today. Rani scored in the 17th, 38th, 44th and 54th minutes. Veteran Saba Anjum (20th) and Chanchan Devi (49th) were the other scorers for the Indian team. With this triumph, India qualified for Champions Challenge-I tournament to be held in October in South Africa, which is the qualifier for elite Champions Trophy next year. Besides being the match-winner, Rani also finished as the event’s top scorer and was named the young player of the tournament. India Skipper Surinder Kaur was named player of the tournament. Earlier in the semifinals, India rode on goals from Rani Rampal and Saba Anjum to fashioned a 2-1 win over Ukraine. Before reaching the last four round, India topped Pool-A with three wins from as many games. They beat Belgium 5-3, Canada 8-1 and Belarus 5-1.