With the Asian Games on the horizon, the Indian women’s hockey team begin their final preparations for the quadrennial event with a tour of Europe. With no FIH Pro League this season, India have had to rely on tours to get match practice ahead of the continental event.
The matches in Europe are the Savita Punia-led team’s first since their tour of Australia in May. India lost their first two matches against the Hockeyroos (4-2, 3-2) before drawing the final game 1-1. India then lost 3-2 to the Australia A team before ending the tour with a 2-1 win.
India’s European tour begins with three matches in Germany against the hosts and China. A week later, they travel to Spain where they will take part in a Four Nations tournament featuring Spain, South Africa and England. The seven matches in Europe will be a test of India’s preparedness for the Asiad as well as a measure of the progress they have made since their tour of Australia.
“This year has shown us how difficult it is to get quality opponents because of the Pro League and because of the busy schedules teams have,” coach Janneke Schopman said ahead of the team’s departure to Europe. “We were extremely fortunate that Australia were willing to host us. You only get better if you play against high quality opponents. We can train hard but for us to understand what the highest level is, you have to play against good teams.”
Punia, the captain and goalkeeper of the team, highlighted how the team has grown in confidence over the past few years.
“Whenever we have played against big teams after the Tokyo Olympics, we haven’t lost by a huge margin against any of the big teams,” Punia said in a pre-departure press conference.
“We have become confident as individuals and as a team. Five-six years ago, we would take the rankings of our opponents seriously and put ourselves under pressure. In the Olympics and since we have been working with Janneke, we have focused on our performances and on executing our plans.”
India travel to Europe without Gurjit Kaur which will mean that vice-captain Deep Grace Ekka and forward Deepika will have to shoulder the responsibility for penalty corners in Europe.
The tours may also give 20-year-old Jyoti Chhatri an opportunity to make her senior debut after starring in India’s Women’s Junior Asia Cup triumph. Also in the squad are two of her Junior Asia Cup teammates Deepika and Vaishnavi Vitthal Phadke who have impressed with the junior side.
Learnings from Australia
“In Australia we needed a bit of time because we hadn’t played in a long time and it hurt us, Schopman added. “We were able to play at a high level but not consistently.”
India managed to shake off the rustiness as the tour progressed and went toe-to-toe with the Hockeyroos and their A team in matches with their high-pressing style of play. However, they were unable to maintain the intensity for the full 60 minutes. Penalty corner conversions were also a cause for concern Down Under, despite Schopman roping in Olympic medallist Rupinder Pal Singh to conduct coaching sessions with the women’s team’s drag-flickers.
Another key area India will be hoping to improve on will be in attack where the likes of Vandana Katariya, Lalremsiami and Sangita Kumari will need to be clinical in front of goal. A lack of scoring was India’s downfall at the FIH World Cup and the Commonwealth Games last year as they lost closely-fought matches.
Under Schopman, India have built steadily on their impressive Tokyo Olympics showing. The former Dutch player has done a good job instilling confidence in the players who have gone from second-guessing themselves against higher-ranked teams, to one which in unafraid to take the match to their opponents at any time.
A good run of results in Europe will only bolster India’s confidence going into the Asian Games.
Indian women’s squad for Germany tour and Four-Nations tournament in Spain
Goalkeepers: Savita (C), Bichu Devi Kharibam
Defenders: Deep Grace Ekka (VC), Nikki Pradhan, Ishika Chaudhary, Udita, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam
Midfielders: Nisha, Monika, Salima Tete, Neha, Navneet Kaur, Sonika, Baljeet Kaur, Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke, Jyoti Chhatri
Forwards: Lalremsiami, Vandana Katariya, Sangita Kumari, Deepika
India’s matches in Europe
India vs China, July 16 - 7.30 pm IST
India vs Germany, July 18 - 2.30 pm IST
India vs Germany, July 19 - 9.00 pm IST
India vs Spain, July 25 - 9.30 pm IST
India vs South Africa, July 27 - 4.30 pm IST
India vs England, July 28 - 2.30 pm IST
India vs TBD, July 30
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