Ranchi, June 21 -- Jharkhand's Salima Tete, Nikki Pradhan and Deepika Soreng were part of the Indian women's hockey team that defeated New Zealand 2-0 in the final to win the FIH Women's Nations Cup 2025-26 title in Auckland on Sunday.
Led by Salima Tete, India remained unbeaten throughout the tournament and secured qualification for the FIH Pro League 2026-27 with the victory.
Navneet Kaur gave India the lead in the fourth minute by converting a penalty corner, while Sunelita Toppo doubled the advantage in the 15th minute through another penalty corner.
The Indian defence held firm thereafter to deny the hosts any opportunity to stage a comeback.
Deepika emerged as the tournament's highest scorer with six goals and played a key role in...