FIH Hockey Pro League 2021/22: "There is still room for improvement"- Indian women's hockey skipper Savita Punia

The Savita Punia-led Indian women's hockey team will be in action against the USA in a double-header in the ongoing 2021/22 FIH Hockey Pro League on June 21-22 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

The Indian team is currently third in the league table with 24 points from 12 matches behind Argentina (42 points) and the Netherlands ( 32 points).

The Women in Blue saw mixed results in their double-header against Argentina.

Forward Lalremsiami and designated drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur stepped up as India stunned the 2021 Tokyo Olympics silver medalists 2-1 in a shootout in their first match on Saturday (June 18).

The Indian women's hockey team then went down 2-3 to Argentina in their second match of the FIH Pro League in Rotterdam.

Skipper Savita Punia speaks ahead of their double header against USA

The women's hockey team have some crucial hockey tournaments lined up in the next two months. After the 2021/22 FIH Pro League European leg matches, the team will participate in the FIH Hockey Women's World Cup from July 1-17 and then the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Speaking about the same, Savita Punia told PTI:

"For us, the most important thing is that we could execute our plans and put up an improved performance on weekend against Argentina. However, we could have done better but I feel these matches are a confidence booster for us ahead of the World Cup."

"There is still room for improvement for us and we look forward to plugging the loopholes in the matches against the USA. We've gained good momentum, and hopefully, we will finish our debut Pro League campaign with good results."

She added:

“We are glad that we have got a good opportunity of playing in Europe just a few days ahead of the World Cup, so the build-up towards the big event has been really great. The team is shaping up really well for the World Cup."

FIH Pro League 2022: Indian women's team's upcoming fixtures

Match 1: USA vs India

Date: June 21, 2022 Timings: 8:00 pm IST

Match 2: USA vs India

Date: June 22, 2022 Timings: 8:00 pm IST

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FIH Pro League 2022:

Streaming details

All the FIH Pro League 2022 matches will be telecast live on Star Sports Select 2 and Star Sports Select 2 HD. Matches will also be available for live streaming on Disney+Hotstar.