The Netherlands Women's Hockey Team arrived on Wednesday in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, to face the hosts India in two gruelling FIH Hockey Pro League 2021/22 matches, scheduled to take place on April 8 and 9 here at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium.
The team led by Yibbi Jansen expressed delight at the prospect of playing against India at the Kalinga stadium. "We are super excited to be here in India. We are ready for the experience and we had a lovely welcome," Jansen stated.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands Coach Joost Bitterling said, "We are really looking forward to playing, especially with this team. Hopefully, we will play two really good matches for the fans and everyone involved."
The World No. 1 Netherlands are currently leading the pool table with 17 points in six matches. They have registered five wins and a shootout win in their campaign so far.
Reflecting on the team's Pro League performance so far, Jansen, "We are really happy to play all these international games against all different countries and our performance has been good so far. We are happy with our game.
Speaking about the team's preparedness ahead of the clash against India, Bitterling said, "I am really happy with our preparation. We have a few young girls in the team. They trained last two weeks together and tomorrow we combine it and hopefully, we will get a strong plan for India and try to beat them at their home."
Speaking about their opponents ahead of the two-legged contest, Bitterling said, "I think they have improved in recent years. I saw their last match against Germany and they played really well and against Spain as well. I think it's a really good opportunity for us to play against them."
"The ladies have played fairly well in the Olympics. They put up a good performance in the recent matches and we are really looking forward to playing, especially with this team," Jansen added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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