Women's Hockey Asia Cup: India plan to test 'strength and strategies' against Thailand

Hangzhou, Sep 4 The Indian women's hockey team is all set to take on Thailand as they kick off their Women's Asia Cup 2025 journey on September 5.

India, having last faced Thailand during the Women's Asian Champions Trophy 2024 in November last year, will be looking to continue their momentum and win their game with a good margin. The two teams have faced each other seven times in the past with India having won all the matches and only having conceded 1 goal in those 7 seven matches.

Talking about their upcoming match, Indian captain Salima Tete said, “Though Thailand is ranked much lower than us in the FIH Rankings, we are not looking at them or any team as an easy opponent, and we will go all out in every match. This will also be our very first match of the Asia Cup 2025, and it will thus set the pace for all the upcoming matches. We plan to test our strength and strategies and win with a good margin against them before we face Japan the next day."

India, along with Japan, Thailand and Singapore, have been drawn into Pool B and will face Thailand at 12 pm IST on Friday. The team will be looking to top their pool and make their way to the Super 4, taking one step closer to securing the trophy.

Talking about the upcoming matches, Harendra Singh, chief coach of the Indian women's hockey team, said, “Our team has a good mix of youth and experienced players, and while we have had a few injury setbacks, I am still confident that the team will do well. The match against Thailand will help us test our strength and also give us a glimpse of what to work on before facing Japan the next day. The girls are confident and looking forward to the competition."

India have won the Women's Asia Cup twice, first in 2004 and again in 2017. In the last edition of the event, India had finished third in the tournament.

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