Hockey at CWG: Indian women look to bury World Cup ghosts, seek Tokyo inspiration to end medal drought

Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 journey with the game against Ghana on Thursday. The Indian women's team is clubbed in Pool A alongside hosts England, Canada, Wales and Ghana, while Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Scotland and Kenya complete Pool B. Just like their male counterparts, the Indian women returned empty-handed from the last edition of the Games in Gold Coast, finishing fourth after being routed 0-6 by England in the bronze medal play-off match. Going into the Games, the Indian women must have been haunted by their below-par effort in the recently concluded World Cup in Spain and the Netherlands, where the Savita Punia-led side finished a disappointing ninth. And the Janneke Schopman-coached side would be desperate to prove that it is a far better side than what the recent results indicate. They would be itching to prove their detractors wrong about the perception that a historic fourth place finish in last year's Tokyo Olympics was a mere fluke.

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Indian women's hockey team skipper Savita is determined to stage a turnaround in the upcoming Birmingham Commonwealth Games after its mediocre outing in the FIH World Cup. India finished joint ninth with China at the World Cup.

The Indian women would also be hoping to break their 16-year medal brought in the Games here. The India's last medal -- a silver -- in CWG came in 2006 Melbourne. The only other medal that Indian women bagged in the Games since hockey introduction in 1998 was a gold in the 2002 edition in Manchester. Besides the brilliant Olympic campaign, the Indians would also be boosted by their creditable third place finish in their maiden Pro League outing this season. But to finish on the