Indian Women’s Hockey team will start their Asia Cup campaign against Malaysia on 21st January as they are looking to defend their title and also earn a position in the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup.
India’s goalkeeper Savita Punia emphasised the importance of the experience of the team that will help the Indian eves to perform and get a slot in the Hockey World Cup. She highlighted how the team bonding and understanding between the players will help them succeed in this tournament.
“The best part about this team is that, many of us have been playing together for a long time and I feel this experience and team camaraderie will give us the edge over other teams. Our main priority will be to remain focused on our game and ensure we execute the plans against each team without making errors,” Savita explained.
India are clubbed in Group A alongwith Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. The Indian Eves will be looking to start strongly as they take on Malaysia in their opening encounter. Savita also underlined the importance of getting off to a good start. She also feels that playing to their strengths and focusing on themselves will be enough to do well in this tournament.
“We have played Malaysia quite a few times in the past and they are a good side. Doing well against them will give us the right start to the tournament. As a team, we believe in focusing on our own game and not worry too much about what the opponent team can or cannot do. We just want to play to our strength,” asserted Savita who will be leading India in the absence of Rani Rampal.
Indian women’s team will also look to draw out motivation from their impressive performance at the Tokyo Olympics last year. Savita added how the team’s never die attitude has allowed them to always put up a fight till the last second. “One of the good qualities of the team is that, we have learnt to fight till the end. We don’t give up if we are down by a few goals. I feel these aspects will matter when we play quality teams in an important tournament like this where the qualification for FIH Women’s World Cup is at stake,” she concluded.
