NEW DELHI:An 18-member Indian senior women’s hockey team left early this morning for Argentina tour under the guidance of chief coach Neil Hawgood.
They will play against the host country and Australia in matches scheduled from November 18-30, the Hockey India (HI) said in a statement here.
India will take on Argentina’s under-21 women’s team on November 23.
The tournament will earn the much-needed international exposure, as part of the team’s preparation for the upcoming Rio Olympics in 2015 ”The girls are now more confident and enthusiastic to play with top hockey teams. It will be an excellent platform to explore the strengths of players and further examine and short-list the team for Rio Olympics. It is an exploratory trip to see where we currently stand and what are the areas that we need to work upon to enhance our performance, as per international standards,” said Hawgood. Skipper Ritu Rani said, ”We are aware about the nation’s expectations from us since we have qualified for the Olympics. We have been training hard and such international trips will only help us understand the results of our hard work before we represent our country in the Olympics next year. ”We are happy to have the best coaching facility and we feel confident about our preparation.” The Indian Women’s team has been on a high this year, winning the second round of Hockey World league earlier this year here. The team gained fifth position in the Hockey World League Semi Final, by the virtue of which they qualified for the Rio Olympics for the first time in 36 years. (UNI)
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