On Thursday, the team played its second practice match, winning 2-0 against Czech Republic after a 4-2 defeat to Germany on Tuesday.
Back in the megacity after lower than two months and with a much bigger target, the Indian women’s hockey platoon will be hoping the massive crowd support that propelled it to the top last time around will continue when it begins its pursuit of a Paris ticket at the Olympic Qualifiers then beginning Saturday.
On Thursday, the platoon played its alternate practice match, winning 2- 0 against Czech Republic after a 4- 2 defeat to Germany on Tuesday. As the players and trainer Janneke Schopman worked out the stylish possible combination, there was one intriguing figure in the defence – Gurjit Kaur, the drag- flicker putatively out of favour but then as one of the stage- byes.
With the educated Deep Grace Ekka barred – Schopman refused to say anything during the media commerce before in the day with a cryptic “ Grace needs to tell herself why she isn’t then ”– Gurjit’s presence was interesting in as important as it showed India’s lack of options in both defence and the penalty corner department. From the outside, her fitness position and on- field performance sounded to throw up further questions than answers. With Vandana Katariya also out with injury, India’s task will be cut out over the coming nine days.
PCs were also the main focus during the commerce with Schopman reiterating her faith in Deepika while playing down prospects. “ PC is an important part of the game and Rupinder (confidante Singh) is veritably good and educated. It was a great help for the drag- flickers talking to him and learning from him during the camp we had before coming then. Deepika is youthful but I’m pleased with her performance, ” she claimed.
Captain Savita preferred to concentrate on India’s strengths. “ We’ll surely be counting on the crowd again, we saw how it helps lift performance during the Asian titleholders jewel. It won’t be easy because everyone is then to qualify for the Olympics but we will concentrate on our strengths rather of the opposition.
“Our ultimate target is to do our stylish to not just qualify but also do well in Paris. But we we aren’t looking that far ahead at the moment, we’ve worked hard and are concentrated on the immediate target then, ” she added.
Asked about favourites Germany, Savita admitted the platoon slipped in the practice match. However, till a many times back we’d indeed struggle to enter their half during a game, “ If you flash back . Now we’re suitable to challenge them and indeed the practice match we lost, it was because of us not sticking to our plans in the 4th quarter. So we know what we can do, ” she said. Know More Latest Sports News…
