The Indian junior women's hockey team on Friday, left for Johannesburg, South Africa to participate in the much-awaited FIH Women's Junior World Cup 2021.
The marquee event, which got postponed to 2022 due to the threat of COVID-19, will begin on Friday, April 1 in Potchefstroom, South Africa. This will be Junior eves' first international outing since the Chile tour in 2021, where they remained unbeaten.
"The long wait finally ends for us. We are absolutely excited to take part in the Junior World Cup. We got a good time to prepare ourselves, we trained with the senior team and I think it will really help us in doing well in the competition. We are really looking forward to this challenge and our aim is to finish on the podium," India captain Salima Tete said in a statement.
Grouped in Pool D, India will begin their campaign on April 2 when they take on Wales. Their second match will be against Germany on April 3, followed by their last pool stage game against Malaysia on April 5.
Talking about the team's preparedness, Salima said, "Several players like Akshata Abaso Dhekale, Deepika, Sangita Kumari, Bichu Devi Kharibam and Ishika Chaudhary had recently made their senior team debuts at the FIH Hockey Pro League 2021/22, so we are pretty much in a good frame of mind."
"We are in good shape and confident of doing well. We even got a chance to play practice matches with the senior team, so the training and preparations have been really good. We are motivated, and will certainly give our best to finish on the podium," she added.
The Indian team will begin their campaign against Wales on April 2, 2022.
( With inputs from ANI )
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