Janneke Schopman, the head coach of the Indian women’s hockey team, is optimistic that the tour of South Africa would be a great opportunity to study and be ready for the Hangzhou Asian Games. Winning a gold medal guarantees automatic qualification for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Goalkeeper Savita Punia will serve as the team’s captain during the tour of South Africa, which will take place from January 16 to January 28 in Cape Town. During that time, the team will compete in four matches against the South Africans and three matches against the Netherlands.
The trip takes place one month after India won the inaugural Nations Cup in Valencia, Spain, and claimed the championship.
In addition to Savita, the team has vice-captain Navneet Kaur and veteran attacker Rani, who is making her comeback to the group after more than a year and more than a year since her last appearance in a Pro League match against Belgium.
Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke, who served as captain of the junior national team in the Uniphar U-23 Five-nations Tournament in May of last year, has been called up to the senior squad for the first time.
The South Africa tour is a fantastic chance for us to build on our Nations Cup performance. This tour gives us the opportunity to play both South Africa and the Netherlands, which will teach us everything we need to know about ourselves for the Asian Games Schopman stated.
The coach stated that the three games against the formidable Dutch would be vital for discovering her team’s flaws and gauging its development. Playing the No. 1 team in the world, the Netherlands, would probably reveal our weaknesses and also demonstrate where we stand in terms of performance and growth.
We will have the chance to hone our ball possession skills when we face South Africa when we will probably have greater possession of the ball & the coach stated.
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