With the comprehensive triumph at the Asian Champions Trophy already in the past, the Indian women’s hockey team will be hoping to build on its success and get the coveted ticket to the Paris Olympics when it starts its campaign in the Olympic Qualifiers against the USA here on Saturday.
It will be a repeat of India’s route to the Olympics last time around, although the format is different this time. India outplayed USA, with coach Janneke Schopman then in the rival dugout, in a two-game thriller in 2019 by a solitary goal to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. While only four from that USA team have travelled this time, India too, has had an overhaul with several seniors missing.
Schopman is aware of the challenge. “Every team is here only to qualify, and we know rankings don’t matter any more. We need to be ready against every team. Knowing USA’s mentality, we know they will fight hard and compete. They have speed and strength and some skilful players too. We need to defend well and score off the chances we get to get full points,” she admitted.
On paper, the host should have it easy. With three sports to grab, it is the second highest-ranked side in the competition with only former Olympic and world champion Germany ahead. But as the Asian Games proved, rankings matter little under pressure. The format of the competition means there will be little time to slip and recover as India will have to finish among the top two in its four-team pool and then reach the final.
With New Zealand and Italy as the other teams with India in Pool B, India will have to make its chances count. While New Zealand is known for its physical play and has a massively lopsided head-to-head record in its favour, Italy won’t be a pushover either, especially with India relying on youngsters to get its job done.
The team suffered a blow when veteran Vandana Katariya was ruled out with a freak injury just before the competition. With Deep Grace Ekka excluded, the team is light in experience, and a lot will depend on the scoring prowess of the local trio of Sangita Kumari and Salima Tete, joined by a returning Beauty Dung Dung.
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Nikki Pradhan will have to shoulder the burden of defence along with captain Savita, and the absence of Ekka means the inexperienced Deepika will be the sole penalty corner executioner for the side, an area that has been a concern for the past few tournaments.
The big advantage for India will be familiarity with the turf after winning the ACT and the massive crowd support. Janneke had expressed reservations before the ACT, given the team had rarely played in front of a full house before, but the team’s performance back then should ease her worries.
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