The Women in Blue will look to get their campaign off to a winning start as India makes its return to women’s hockey on the Olympic stage after a gap of 36 years. The last time the Indian women’s team represented the country in the Olympics was way back in 1980 Moscow of the then Soviet Union which coincidentally was the last time the Indian men’s hockey team won a Gold medal at the Olympics.
The Indian team had qualified for the Rio Olympics 2016 by securing a 5th place finish at the FIH World Hockey League in 2015 and will look to build on that heading to Rio as they open their campaign against Japan.
The key in terms of India will be the grittiness and willpower which have seen them break the Olympic jinx and reach the world stage after almost 4 decades out. The team will be reliant on the likes of Sunita Lakra and Sushila Chanu to lead the team on the grand stage.
The team will be without the services of inspirational captain Ritu Rani who has been dropped by the Indian Hockey Federation for certain disciplinary reasons which provoked widespread criticism from fans of Indian hockey.
India should expect a difficult challenge against the 10th ranked Japanese team, compared to India’s 13th but the game certainly will not be beyond India’s reach. Expect a close battle though and thrilling end to end Hockey between two of the giants of Asian hockey.
Key Players:
As far as India goes, they will not have to look any further than Sunita Lakra who would be the main threat up front as they look to make a winning start to their campaign. Captain Sushila Chanu would be vital at the half-back position as she aims to dictate the tempo of the game.
It will be interesting to see how the team copes without former captain Ritu Rani for such a major tournament.
As far as Japan goes, captain Miyuki Nakagawa will look to lead the team from the front as the veteran makes her fourth appearance at the games. The wealth of experience may be vital for Japan as they make their 5th straight appearance in the games.
Besides the captain, the likes of Aki Mitsuhashi and Akane Shibata will be key on the field as they look to get their campaign off to a winning start.
Match Details : Rio 2016 Women’s Hockey Tournament Group B Match 2 India Vs Japan
TV Channel : The Star Sports Network & Hotstar
Match Date : 7th August 2016
Match Time : 7:30 PM IST/11 AM Brazilian Time
Match Venue : Olympic Hockey Centre, Rio De Janeiro
Indian Squad:
| 1. Savita Punia (GK) |
| 2. Deep Grace Ekka |
| 3. Deepika Thakur |
| 4. Namita Toppo |
| 5. Sunita Lakra |
| 6. Sushila Chanu (C) |
| 7. Lilima Minz |
| 8. Renuka Yadav |
| 9. Nikki Pradhan |
| 10. Monika Malik |
| 11. Navjot Kaur |
| 12. Anuradha Devi |
| 13. Poonam Rani |
| 14. Vandana Kataria |
| 15. Preeti Dubey |
16. Rani Rampal |
Japan Squad:
| 1. Sakiyo Asano (GK) |
| 2. Nagisa Hayashi |
| 3. Mayumi Ono |
| 4. Emi Nishikori |
| 5. Akane Shibata |
| 6. Maki Sakaguchi |
| 7. Mie Nakashima |
| 8. Ayaka Nishimura |
| 9. Miyuki Nakagawa (c ) |
| 10. Yuri Nagai |
| 11. Hazuki Nagai |
| 12. Hazuki Yuda |
| 13. Aki Mitsuhashi |
| 14. Minami Shimizu |
| 15. Yukari Mano |
| 16. Motomi Kawamura |
Prediction: A fighting scored draw as both teams look to get on the attack from the get go and the match ends in a deadlock. 2-2.
