Indian eves face New Zealand in Hockey World League opener

The Indian senior women’s hockey team will have their task cut out when they kick-start their campaign against formidable New Zealand in the first Hockey World League semi-finals beginning in Rotterdam on Thursday.

The women in blue, led by experienced Railways midfielder Ritu Rani, are pitted in a tough Pool B which also features Germany and Belgium.

On the preparation front, the Indian eves – ranked twelfth in the world – have been going through strenuous training sessions after making it to the Hockey World League semi-finals from the Round 2 event held in New Delhi last February.

The team had a national camp in Patiala in March, before they left for an exposure tour of the Netherlands, very much like the country’s men team undertook in the month of April-May.

The Indian women had their final camp at NIS Patiala before the team departed for Rotterdam.

The Indian eves will be missing the services of talented 18-year-old striker Rani Rampal, who is recuperating from a back injury.

According to Hockey India sources, Rani is being allowed to make a full recovery so that she is available for selection for the Junior Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Germany in July-August this year.

The absence of Rani Rampal means that there would be loaded responsibility on experienced forward Poonam Rani, who interestingly gave the Hockey World League Round 2 event a miss because of a toe injury.

Poonam is one among a plethora of Railway players donning the national jersey. She would look for adequate support upfront from her Railway youngsters Anupa Barla and Roselin Dung Dung.

18-year-old Odisha girl Lilima Minz and Madhya Pradesh youngster Ritusha Arya would be upbeat about putting up a decent performance.

Captain Ritu Rani, with over 150 internationals under her belt, would be looking to essay the same role Indian men’s hockey team captain Sardar Singh performs in the midfield and overlap whenever required.

25-year-old vice-captain Chanchan Devi, who has experience of 82 internationals, will strive to complement Ritu Rani. 16-year-old Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy girl Lily Chanu, 17-year-old Navjot Kaur and ever-improving Vandana Katariya would be keen to make a big impression in Rotterdam.

The Indian defence are without two ‘Kaurs’ – Joydeep and Jaspreet – both Haryana girls, who were part of the national side for HWL Round 2 event and are overlooked this time around.

In their absence –another ‘Kaur’ – Railway and Punjab defender Kirandeep Kaur will have to shoulder more responsibility along with three Odisha youngsters – Deep Grace Ekka, Namita Toppo and Sunita Lakra in defence. The short corner duties are likely to be shared by the quartet. Manipuri Sushila Chanu and Manjeet Kaur would also be determined to play a big part in the HWL semi-finals.

Haryana girl Savita will man the goalkeeping duties with Rajni Etimarpu as her back-up.

The Indian eves play 13^th ranked Belgium in their second game the next day. They play world number five Germany in their final league tie on June 16.