Savita Punia To Lead 18-member Indian Women's Hockey Squad In Olympic Qualifiers In Ranchi

01.01.2024 - 00:52 sports.ndtv.com

Veteran goalkeeper Savita Punia will continue to lead the side and Vandana Katariya will be her deputy as Hockey India on Saturday named an 18-member Indian women's team for the Olympic Qualifiers scheduled to be held in Ranchi from January 13 to 19.

India will take the field in Ranchi looking to finish as one of the top three teams in the competition and secure qualification for the Paris Olympics 2024. "The FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers Ranchi is an important tournament on our Paris Olympics journey.

It is imperative that we live up to the expectations and all the players in the squad are working to secure qualification," Indian Women's chief coach Janneke Schopman said in a release. "After careful consideration, we have chosen a well-balanced team with immense skill and experience in all departments.

Also, Savita and Vandana have faced high-pressure situations numerous times in their career so far. They are well equipped to guide the rest of the team as the Captain and Vice-Captain," she added.

hockey awards FIH India Women Career Department qualifiers Paris Olympics Janneke Schopman Germany Italy Usa Czech Republic Japan New Zealand India Chile

Paris will remain out of bounds for Indian women's hockey team that eschewed its crisp, short-passing game to bow of 2024 Olympic qualification race with a 0-1 loss to Japan in the third-place match of FIH Qualifiers in Ranchi on Friday. Kana Urata's sixth minute strike from the penalty corner turned out to be the winner for Japan as the wheels that were set in motion for the Indian women's team, following a momentous fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, seemed to have come off after the utterly disappointing show in one of its hubs in recent years.

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