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Ace Indian goalkeeper Savita Punia will be seen in action in the 2021/22 FIH Pro League. The 31-year-old will continue to lead the Indian side that is currently placed at the top of the table with 22 points.
The Indian women's team is currently undergoing preparations in SAI, Bengaluru ahead of the FIH Pro League and World Cup Savita. The European leg of the FIH Pro League matches will be conducted in Belgium and the Netherlands from June 11-22, 2022.
Speaking about the training, Savita Punia said:
"There is a lot of excitement ahead of the Pro League matches in Europe as well as the Women's World Cup. Last time, we exited in the quarterfinals but this time we will do our best to finish in the top 4."
The 2022 Asian Games, which were due to take place in Hangzhou, China in September, have been postponed indefinitely due to the prevailing COVID 19 distress.
Earlier this month, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) made an announcement regarding the postponement. Speaking about the same, Savita said:
"We will once again deal with this postponement as an opportunity to train and be better prepared for the Asian Games. The one-year postponement for the Olympics gave us significant time to improve and personally for me, I got to work closely with Janneke who had a great impact on my improvement as a goalkeeper."
She further added:
"No one expected we will go beyond the quarter finals in the Olympic Games. Many of our supporters thought we would reach upto the quarter finals at the outset, but I don't think anyone believed we could win the quarter finals. This zeal to win and not to give up till the last second of the match was inculcated by our coaching staff. We had to, and we knew we would change the script of Tokyo."
FIH Pro League 2022: Indian women's team's upcoming fixtures
The Savita Punia-led Indian team will play six matches, starting June 11.
The Indian team will take on Belgium in a two-legged tie in the FIH Pro League at the Sportcentrum Wilrijkse Plein in Antwerp, Belgium. Later, they will travel to Rotterdam in the Netherlands to face Argentina and the USA for the remaining matches.
Here's the full schedule:
Match 1: Belgium vs India
Date: June 11, 2022 Timings: 5:30 pm IST
Match 2: Belgium vs India
Date: June 12, 2022 Timings: 5:30 pm IST
Match 1: Argentina vs India
Date: June 18, 2022 Timings: 5:30 pm IST
Match 2: Argentina vs India
Date: June 19, 2022 Timings: 5:30 pm IST
Match 1: USA vs India
Date: June 21, 2022 Timings: 8:00 pm IST
