As the Indian women's hockey team gears up for Commonwealth Games 2022, coach Janneke Schopman said that they need to 'execute plans well' when the team take on Ghana in their opening match of the event.
The Indian women's hockey team will face off against Ghana in their first match of the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on July 29.
Talking about their first match of the Commonwealth Games campaign against Ghana, Janneke Schopman told ANI, "Like I said we will be busy with ourselves. We really dont know a lot about Ghana but we do know that they have a different playing style. We want to play the quick passing game we also want to make a circle and execute our plans well."
In their previous outing at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, India had finished fourth after a loss to England in the Bronze medal match. However, after an impressive campaign in their maiden FIH Pro League where they finished overall third behind Argentina and the Netherlands, the Indian team is keen on a podium finish in Birmingham.
Playing against top teams like Australia, New Zealand and England, Schopman said, "I think as a player you always want to play against the best teams and yeah these teams are at the top. They played quarterfinals of the World Cup and Australia finished with a bronze medal. so we know what we need to do here. Yeah, there are expectations especially when you performed well in the Olympics. But for us, it's all about now. so I don't look so much at the outcome. We look at our potential like can we create opportunity?. We have a decent run. We hope to combine the potential here."
The Indian team, captained by Savita, will square off against Ghana in the opening match on July 29, before playing Wales on July 30, England on August 02 and Canada on August 03 in the pool stage.
Talking about their Commonwealth Games campaign, she said, "Very excited.. I think it's great for the team to play in the Games. It's a special tournament only held once in four years. So you want to be ready... and yeah we are ready to play."
The squad includes goalkeepers Savita and Rajani Etimarpu. Defenders Deep Grace Ekka, Gurjit Kaur, Nikki Pradhan, Udita have been named in the squad along with midfielders Nisha, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Monika, Neha, Jyoti, Navjot Kaur and Salima Tete.
( With inputs from ANI )
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