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Indian senior women’s hockey team left early this morning for Argentina tour under the guidance of famed Chief Coach Neil Hawgood. The 18 member squad will play against the host country and Australia in matches scheduled from 18th to 30th November.
Indian Women’s team will be playing against Argentina’s under 21 women’s team on 23rd November. The match will be setting off the campaign for the Indian Women’s team starting at 13:30 hrs IST. The tournament will earn the much needed international exposure as part of the team’s preparations for the upcoming Rio Olympics in 2015.
Chief Coach, Indian Woman Hockey Team Neil Hawgood said, “The girls are now more confident and enthusiastic to play with top hockey teams. It will be an excellent platform to explore the strengths of players and further examine and short-list the team for Rio Olympics. It is an exploratory trip to see where we currently stand and what are the areas that we need to work upon to enhance our performance as per international standards.”
Ritu Rani, Captain, Indian Woman Hockey Team said, “We are aware about the nation’s expectations from us since we have qualified for the Olympics. We have been training hard and such international trips will only help us understand the results of our hard work before we represent our country in the Olympics next year. We are happy to have the best coaching facility and we feel confident about our preparation.”
The 18 member India squad will be led by experienced campaigner Ritu Rani. The second in command will be Deepika Thakur. The Indian goalpost will be guarded by Savita and Rajani Etimarpu. The defence line will see vice-captain Deepika alongside Sunita Lakra, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Jaspreet Kaur and Deep Grace Ekka.
The midfield will have Captain Ritu Rani with Renuka Yadav, Lilima Minz, Navjot Kaur, Monika and Namita Toppo. Navneet Kaur, Preeti Dubey, Poonam Rani, Vandana Katariya and Anuradha Devi Thokchom will complete the forward line for team India.
The Indian Women’s team has been on a high this year winning the second round of the Hockey World league earlier this year which was held in Delhi. The team gained 5th position in the Hockey World League Semi Final by the virtue of which they qualified for the Rio Olympics for the first time in 36 years. The fixtures of the Indian matches for the group stage are as follows:
23-Nov-15 17:00 01:30 India v/s Argentina (U-21)
24-Nov-15 17:00 01:30 India v/s Argentina
25-Nov-15 17:00 01:30 India v/s Argentina
26-Nov-15 17:00 01:30 India v/s Argentina (U - 21)
29-Nov-15 17:00 01:30 India v/s Australia
