Janneke Schopman happy with India's progress in FIH Pro League

Indian women's team chief coach Janneke Schopman reflected on the Indian team's performance in the FIH Pro League and said the focus is to improve and do better with every passing game.

The Indian team won and lost one match apiece against Germany in the FIH Pro League over the last weekend. While Germany won the first match 2-1 in a shootout, India bounced back with a 3-0 win in the shootout in the second leg. Both games ended in a 1-1 draw in regulation time.

Reflecting on the performance, Janneke Schopman said she was happy with the team's progress.

"Our focus is to improve and do better in every game, which I think we are doing. In Saturday's game, we didn't start well, but in the next game, we started well. However, in the second game, we got a little bit on the backfoot after losing the video referral and then the PC that went in because a player got sent out," she said after the game.

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The Indian chief coach added that the focus will now be on winning matches in regulation time and not taking the game to the shootouts. She added:

"I just reminded the players at halftime that we are in the game and you just have to keep working hard and keep to our game plan and win the ball. I think we created enough opportunities. The only thing to say is that we should win in regulation time and not in shootouts."

Indian debutants impress in FIH Pro League

Two players, Akshata Abaso Dhekale and Bichu Devi Kharibam, made their international and FIH Pro League debuts in the double-header against Germany. Speaking about the performances of the debutants, Schopman said the new players are smart and have adapted well.

"We have a lot of young players. Akshata has really shown a lot of progress in the training sessions. She is a smart player, she defends well, she is calm. If she keeps growing, she has a great future. Deepika and Sangita too have played a little bit and they are starting to have more confidence. They got more on the ball using more of their skills. That's what I want, I just want them to play and not be worried about any mistakes they make. I am really happy with the performances, but there's a lot to learn for them," she explained.

Following their 1-2 shootout loss in the first game, India were successful in converting their first three attempts in a shootout in the second leg. Salima Tete, Sangita Kumari, and Sonika were the goalscorers for India, while skipper and goalkeeper Savita Punia stood tall to deny Germany.

Speaking about the shootouts and the improvements the team made in the second leg against Germany in the FIH Pro League, Savita Punia said:

"A shootout is a situation of pressure. After so many years, it was our first shootout on Saturday, so our players and I made a few mistakes. But we worked on those errors and thought that we just have to implement what we do in training if the match heads to the shootouts. We worked on our mistakes and implemented the learnings. We have skilful players in our team and they were all able to score easily."

With 12 points from six games, the Indian women's team are in second spot in the FIH Pro League standings. They will next play a double-header against England at the Kalinga Stadium on April 2 and 3.