Hockey: Savita and Co placed in Pool B of Hockey Nations Cup with Canada, Japan and South Africa

The International Hockey Federation on Monday made the draw for the FIH Women’s Nations Cup that will take place in Valencia, Spain from December 11-17.

The Indian women’s team has been placed in Pool B along with Canada, Japan and South Africa.

India begins its campaign on December 11 against Canada, a team they will well be familiar with having faced them at the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup and the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham - both matches played within the past two months.

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The Savita Punia-led outfit then takes on Japan a day later, followed by the match against South Africa on December 14.

The top two teams go on to play in a semifinal and then progress to the final. The teams that finished third and fourth play classification matches to fill the fifth to eight ranking spots.

The event in Spain will be the first tournament the women’s team will be competing in since they won bronze at Birmingham 2022.