The Indian Women’s Hockey team have already travelled to Oman as they prepare to feature in the Women’s Hockey Asia Cup. The tournament is set to start from 21 January and continue till 28th of this month and will be held at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat. India will be up against some strong teams such as China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. So the competition will be really tough for the Indian Eves.
It will be a major challenge for the Indian Women’s hockey team to defend their title in Muscat, Oman. However, vice-captain and of the most experienced players in the team, Deep Grace Ekka pointed out the importance of the tournament and also revealed their preparations for the upcoming matches. She repeatedly added how winning the title is of prime importance to every player.
“It is sort of a new start for us. This will be our first full tournament after the Tokyo Olympics as unfortunately, we could only play one game in Korea at the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy 2021. We held a training camp at the Sports Authority of India in Bengaluru after our return and have been able to work on several aspects of our game in attack and in defence. We are really pumped up to defend our title at the Women’s Hockey Asia Cup,” Ekka said.
The tournament will also allow the top four teams to book their seat in this year’s FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup held in Spain and Netherlands. Therefore Ekka believes that they need to start off the year well and keep up the momentum for the upcoming events this year.
“It is important for us to perform well in the tournament as it will set the momentum for us for the upcoming challenges in 2022. It is a packed year for us, and the more games we play, the more we will be able to test ourselves and what we have been working on the training grounds,” added the Odisha based hockey star.
Indian had won the 2017 Asia Cup and qualified for the World Cup. The Indian Eves reached the knockout stages of the last World Cup and even won the silver medal at the Asian Games. Ekka believes that a good start with the Asia Cup will set things in motion for the Indian Women’s hockey team.
