India women’s Hockey team captain Savita Punia excited to face Olympic Champions and World No.1 Netherlands at the FIH Hockey Pro League

The Indian Women’s Hockey team will be taking on the World No.1 Netherlands in their next set of FIH Hockey Pro League matches scheduled for April 8 and 9 at the iconic Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. Ahead of the match captain and goalkeeper Savita Punia highlighted the excitement of facing the Olympic champions Netherlands in a doubleheader as they aim to put up a good performance against them.

“Our team is really excited to face the Netherlands. It doesn’t really matter if they have come without experienced players because it won’t change their style of play. They have come with a young team, but that doesn’t mean they will take things casually. Their young players have been given chance, so I think they will certainly give their best. Our approach will remain the same as always and we will focus on ourselves,” Savita Punia said.

India faced a heavy 5-1 defeat against the Netherlands when they met them at the Tokyo 20202 Olympics last year in a group stage clash.  While the Netherlands went on to win the gold medal, the Indians were very close to the bronze as they finished fourth at the Summer Games.

“It’s great that we are getting a chance to play the Netherlands again that too at our home, so of course, we will give our best and enjoy the matches,” Savita Punia stated.

“We will be facing them for the first time since the Olympics. We have been training hard every day in this heat, so will hopefully do well in both the matches,” the Indian Women’s Team Vice-Captain Deep Grace Ekka added.

India are currently fourth in the FIH Hockey Pro League table with 12 points. Whereas the Netherlands are undefeated in six matches with five wins and are at the top of the table.

Savita Punia shared how at one stage the Indian women’s team would never get such top-level opponents to play and improve. So for her and for her team it is a great opportunity to play against the best players in the world and put up a good fight as it will be a great learning curve for the youngsters.

Reflecting on the campaign so far ace Goalkeeper Savita Punia said, “Earlier, we hardly used to get to play against top teams. We haven’t played continuous matches against such teams before, and that’s the best thing about Pro League. These matches are helping us improve. You know, it’s a sort of achievement that the teams are willing to play against us. It gives us motivation and also shows that we stand somewhere in the world.”

They started their campaign with wins against China (7-1 and 2-1) in Muscat followed by a 2-1 win and a 3-4 loss against Spain in February 2022 at home and in their last outing, they registered a 1-1 (1-2 SO) loss and a 1-1 (3-0 SO) win against Germany. The Indian Eves will be keen to put up solid performances just like they have done till now in the entirety of the Hockey Pro League.