Indian Women's Hockey Team Eye 3rd Consecutive Olympic Appearance

The battle to earn a berth for the Paris Olympics begins tomorrow, with the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024 kicking off in Ranchi, Jharkhand at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astro Turf on Saturday in Ranchi. The eight teams in the fray include Germany, Japan, Chile and Czech Republic in Pool A while hosts India are clubbed in Pool B with New Zealand, United States and Italy. Only the top 3 teams in the tournament will make the qualification cut.

Vying for their third consecutive Olympic berth, the Savita-led Indian women's hockey team is optimistic about their chances. Going into the tournament as the second-highest-ranked team, the hosts will be riding on some significant performances in recent times, namely the Asian Champions Trophy, where they avenged their loss to China in the semi-finals of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou.

"We are ready for the tournament. The entire team understands that this is the first step towards the Paris Olympics dream. We have worked on ourselves as individuals and as a team. Our focus will be on our own strength and not worry too much about what the opponents will bring to the table," asserted a confident captain, Savita as quoted by Hockey India.

The Indian side will begin their campaign with a match against the United States on Saturday. The Indian team defeated the US in the 2019 Olympic Qualifiers and will be looking to repeat that performance this time too.

"There will be pressure when we take on the US. No doubt, they are a good side. But as I have always said, there is pressure in every match and every tournament; this is no different. We have worked on ourselves mentally and have worked on how to overcome difficult situations in the match," stated Savita.

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