Mönchengladbach (Germany), August 1 (IANS): India advanced to the semifinal of the FIH Women's Hockey Junior World Cup with a 4-2 victory over Spain Thursday.
In the quarterfinal match, Spain took an early lead through Xantal Gine when she converted a penalty corner in the seventh minute. India came back quickly and levelled the score three minutes later through Monika.
Spain skipper Bonastre Berta put them ahead again in the 30th minute but India retaliated and got back to level terms just at the stroke of half time with Navneet Kaur scoring in the 34th minute.
The second half belonged to India as they breezed to a 4-2 lead by the 48th minute with goals from Vandana Kataria and Rani and secured a last-four berth for the first time in the tournament.
This is India's best performance so far in this tournament, the previous best being ninth in 2001 and 2009.