The Indian women’s hockey team is all set to participate in the upcoming FIH Women’s Nations Cup in Valencia, Spain, from 11 to 17 December.
Goalkeeper Savita will lead the 20-member squad and is confident of a good outing in the tournament.
The FIH Women’s Nations Cup is now an important fixture in the international calendar going forward as it brings in a system of promotion-relegation, where the champions of this edition will be promoted to the FIH Hockey Women’s Pro League’s 2023-2024 season.
“Our team has been working really hard in the camp for the FIH Women’s Nations Cup 2022,” ,” said Savita, who was named FIH women’s goalkeeper of the year for 2021-’22.
“We are determined to win the tournament as it will also allow us to participate in the next season of the FIH Hockey Women’s Pro League 2023-2024. Playing in the last edition of the FIH Hockey Women’s Pro League was a good experience for us and we want to play in the next edition as well. It will serve as a good preparation for Asian Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics.”
India is grouped in pool B along with Canada, Japan and South Africa and Savita said that the Indian Women’s Hockey Team will give their best in the competition. The other teams in the fray are Ireland, Italy, Korea and Spain who are grouped in pool A.
“All the players are confident of a good outing in the FIH Women’s Nations Cup 2022. We will face Canada, Japan and South Africa in the group stage and we will look to play the best hockey we can and execute the plans properly,” said the skipper.
She also believes that the upcoming competition will help prepare the Indian Women’s Hockey Team for the Asian Games next year.
“We also have our eyes on the Asian Games which is going to happen next year. Every tournament till the Asian Games will act as a preparation for it and I am sure all the players will get the much-needed confidence with a good performance in the FIH Women’s Nations Cup 2022,” she added.
