Hangzhou [China], September 14 (ANI): The Women's Asia Cup 2025 came to a conclusion on Sunday with China winning the final against India to claim the gold medal and qualify for the FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium and Netherlands 2026.

The competition got underway on September 5 with an initial pool stage. China finished atop Pool A standings winning all three matches with a striking +31 goal difference, while keeping three clean sheets! Korea took second place in Pool A with two wins and one loss. India and Japan went unbeaten in Pool B, with two wins against Thailand and Singapore, while the two sides drew their head-to-head matchup. India topped the pool by virtue of their superior goal difference. As top two finishers in the first pool stage, China, Korea, India and Japan progressed to the next stage; the Super 4's pools stage.

In the Super 4's stage, all teams faced each other once. China finished at the top of the standings following three more wins taking them to 9 points. India finished second with a win against Korea, another riveting draw against Japan and a loss to China. Japan and Korea played out a 1-1 draw that proved costly for both sides, relegating both teams to the bronze medal match, while India would take on China for gold.

Korea started the bronze medal match as the brighter of the two sides and scored the opening goal of the contest through Yeongeun Park in the first quarter. Japan pressed the accelerator after the quarter break and finally got level midway through quarter two, with Shiho Kobayakawa putting finishing touches to a complete team move. Both teams played cautiously following the leveller until Japan found the breakthrough in the final quarter through Hiroka Murayama and while Korea won a couple of penalty corners, they couldn't convert them into goals, leaving Japan to walk away with a 2-1 win and the bronze medal.

The final got off to a frenetic start with India scoring in the opening minute through a Navneet Kaur penalty corner. China however, were not bogged down by conceding early and went about their business calmly. Their constant pressure paid off in the second quarter as captain Ou Zixia scored the leveller from China's fifth penalty corner of the game. While India played their best hockey in the third quarter, it was China that went ahead, scoring from a rapid counter attack off a saved Indian penalty corner attempt. Two more goals in the final quarter made the lead a comfortable one for China, much to the delight of the fantastic home support, as they walked away with a 4-1 win, the gold medal and a spot at the FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium & Netherlands 2026.

Alyson Annan, coach of the Chinese team, speaking after their win said: 'Qualifying for the World Cup directly through the Asia Cup was really important for us because there's Pro League, Asian Games and the World Cup next year, so avoiding having to go through the qualifiers in a busy year is definitely good for us. This wasn't an easy tournament for us despite the results, and the advantage of playing in home conditions with great fan support definitely helped us.'

China has now become the eighth team to qualify for the women's FIH Hockey World Cup, Belgium and the Netherlands 2026. Belgium and the Netherlands, on account of being hosts of the event, gained direct qualification. Germany and Argentina qualified through the previous two editions of the FIH Hockey Pro League. The USA secured qualification through the Pan American Cup, Spain qualified from the Eurohockey Championship and New Zealand qualified through the Oceania Cup. The Continental championship in Africa will determine one more direct qualifier for the event, with the remaining seven teams qualifying through the FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers in 2026.

Based on their performance at the Pan American Cup, EuroHockey Championships, Oceania Cup and Asia Cup, the following women's teams have qualified for the FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers 2026: Uruguay, Chile, Canada, Ireland, England, France, Italy, Wales, Scotland, Austria, Switzerland, Australia, India, Japan, Korea and Malaysia. (ANI)