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Japan are among the eight nations competing at the FIH Women's Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024 in Ranchi. They are pitted in Pool A of the competition alongside Germany, Chile and the Czech Republic.
The Japanese side took on the Czech Republic in their season opener of the competition on Saturday. They won the match 2-0, courtesy of a goal each from Miyu Suzuki and Shihori Oikawa.
Suzuki scored off a penalty corner in the fourth minute to hand the Cherry Blossoms a 1-0 lead in the game. They extended their lead in the 40th minute when Oikawa converted a penalty stroke.
Sportskeeda caught up with Japan coach Jude Menezes to understand what went wrong in the Women's Asian Champions Trophy final against India, plans to defeat the hosts, and much more.
The Cherry Blossoms had great preparations leading into the FIH Women's Hockey Qualifiers 2024 in Ranchi. They played a couple of friendly matches ahead of the tournament and had undergone a few training sessions as well.
They played one friendly match against the United States and another against Italy heading into this tournament. Japan will surely face a tough challenge if they happen to take on hosts India during the later stages of the tournament.
When asked about the plans to tackle India, coach Jude Menezes said:
"At this stage, we're looking at our pool first and India is in the other pool."
Japan will compete in Pool A and will face three other nations before the knockout stage. Chile and the Czech Republic are relatively easier opponents for Japan. However, Germany will give them a run for the money in the league stage.
Former Indian player and current Japan coach Jude Menezes was quoted as saying:
"We're all playing for a spot in the Olympic Games. So every game is tough. We respect all the teams that are here but fear no one."
Menezes was all praise for his players and named two of them to watch out for from the Japanese side: Miyu Hasegawa and Rui Takashima.
Japan faced India twice during the Women's Asian Champions Trophy held in Ranchi last year. They lost their pool match 2-1 against hosts India on October 31. Naveent Kaur and Sangita Kumar were on the score sheet for India, while Kana Urata was the lone scorer for the tourists.
Meanwhile, the hosts thrashed Japan 4-0 in the final of the Women's Asian Champions Trophy 2023. Sangita Kumari, Neha, Lalremsiami and Vandana Katariya got their names on the score sheet in the all-important clash on November 5.
Two months after the loss against India, Menezes opened up on where Japan lost the match and what went wrong for them. He concluded by saying:
"We had a goal disallowed at one stage. Had the goal been allowed, the score would have been 1-1. We also missed a penalty stroke. I think except for the last five minutes it was a pretty even game. So I don't think too many things went wrong for us [Japan]. We made a couple of mistakes in the last five minutes and on the day India was a better team."
