New Delhi [India], April 26 (ANI): The Indian Women’s Hockey Team will tour Australia for a five-match collection, which is able to begin on May 18 and can conclude on May 27, to organize for the upcoming Asian Games this yr.
India will play Australia within the first three video games of the collection, adopted by two matches towards Australia A. All the matches might be performed at MATE Stadium in Adelaide. India will play their opening match of the tour on May 18 earlier than enjoying back-to-back video games on May 20 and 21. The guests will then compete towards Australia A on May 25 and 27, as per a press launch from Hockey India.
The Australian girls’s hockey crew is at present ranked third on this planet, whereas the Indian crew is ranked eighth. The tour will function a warm-up occasion for the Hangzhou Asian Games, which is able to happen in September-October this yr. Talking about the identical, Janneke Schopman, the Chief Coach of the Indian Women’s Hockey Team, stated, “Playing Australia in Australia will help us assess where we are compared to the top of women’s hockey. More importantly, the series will be crucial for our preparations for the Asian Games in China as it will give us ideal exposure while helping us reckon the areas where we need to make improvements and changes. So, it is a very important tour for us strategically.” India will journey to Australia with loads of confidence, having gained the FIH Women’s Nations Cup in December 2022 by defeating host Spain within the Final.
Furthermore, in January 2023, India toured South Africa, the place they took on the hosts in 4 matches and registered complete 5-1, 7-0, and 4-0 victories within the opening three video games, whereas the fourth recreation led to a 2-2 draw. However, throughout the identical tour, the Indian facet suffered a 1-3 loss by the hands of the Netherlands of their final three video games. In addition, the Indian Women’s Hockey Team defeated three-time Olympic gold medallists Australia 1-0 within the Semi-Finals of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. It was a historic victory for India as they have been competing in solely their third Olympics and certified for the Quarter-Finals for the primary time, whereas Australia have been three-time gold medallists. India additionally fought onerous towards Australia within the Commonwealth Games 2022 Semi-Final match in Birmingham, tying the rating at 1-1 on the finish of regulation time. However, Australia gained the penalty shoot-out 3-0 to make it to the ultimate. Currently, the Indian Women’s Hockey Team gamers are gearing up for the Australia Tour by placing within the onerous yards to additional fine-tune their methods and combos within the ongoing Senior Women’s National Coaching Camp at SAI, Bengaluru. (ANI)