Perth [Australia], May 2 : On their tour of Australia, the Indian women's hockey team hopes to perform strongly in the penultimate match. Up against the Australian senior team, the Indian women's hockey team will have their task cut out, and have been working hard to ensure the team's performances are of high quality.
With one eye on the World Cup next year and the FIH Hockey Pro League in Europe later this year, the Indian Women's Hockey Team is also trying out new combinations and strategies on this tour of Australia. While India has not registered a win on the tour yet, the final two games represent a big chance to rectify that.
India's 26-member squad, led by captain Salima Tete and vice-captain Navneet Kaur, has played the Australian senior team once so far. Despite a spirited performance, the hosts handed them a 0-2 defeat in Perth. Before the game against the Australian senior side, the Indian Women's Hockey Team also played a couple of friendlies against the Australian A side. Still, it could not register wins despite gritty and determined performances.
Going into the final two games of the tour, chief coach Harendra Singh and Indian Women's Hockey Team will be hoping to fix the chinks in the armour and build on the strengths of the side.
The Indian women's hockey team is a healthy mix of experience and youth, and under the leadership of Chief Coach Harendra Singh, the squad has made significant progress. While the results in Australia may not have gone as the team would have liked, the Indian Women's Hockey Team are looking to build for the future. In attack and defence, the Indian women's hockey team has shown plenty of potential already and is well on track to build a solid team for the major tournaments in the future.
Speaking on the occasion, chief coach Harendra Singh said, "The Indian Women's Hockey Team is working hard behind the scenes to ensure that the squad is a robust one. While we have not had much success in winning games on the tour of Australia, there have been plenty of positives from the performances already."
He added, "The defeats do hurt us, especially when we have conceded soft goals in, but nothing can replace or match the intensity of playing these matches. The more games and game time the Indian Women's Hockey Team gets, the better it is for the players, especially the younger ones. This tour is of a lot of importance as facing top-quality opposition is extremely crucial for developing the squad."
The Indian Women's Hockey Team will face Australia in the final two games of the tour on May 3 and May 4, beginning at 15:10 hrs respectively in Perth.
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