NEW DELHI: Hockey India on Saturday named 33 core probables for the Indian women's national coaching camp, commencing on Monday at the Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru. The players have been asked to report to chief coach Sjoerd Marijne for the four-week camp, which will conclude on August 11.
After the conclusion of the camp, the team will travel to Japan for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Test event, which will be played among India, hosts Japan, Australia and China, starting August 17. "We will use this upcoming national coaching camp to evaluate our performances at the FIH Women's Series Finals Hiroshima 2019, and identify the areas for improvement," said coach Marijne.
"If you win, everything looks good, but it is important to keep a critical eye on your own performance to take the next step in the right direction. We have a few focus points where we want to improve, and the next four weeks will be utilised in making the improvements," he added.
Marijne said that the upcoming event in Japan will be a good test for his team. "Our aim is to use the matches against Australia, China and hosts Japan to improve our own play and prepare well for the FIH Olympic Qualifiers 2019. I am very curious to see how we will play against Australia, but before that, we will be focusing on stepping up our training in the next four weeks," he said.
"To play these matches, we will need good fitness, and that is something which will be important for us in the camp as well. These matches give us the chance to test a few things which we can use in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers later this year," the coach explained.
Core probables list: Goalkeepeers: Savita, Rajani Etimarpu, Bichu Devi Kharibam Defenders: Deep Grace Ekka, Reena Khokhar, Suman Devi Thoudam, Sunita Lakra, Salima Tete, Manpreet Kaur, Gurjit Kaur, Rashmita Minz, Mahima Choudhary and Nisha Midefielders: Nikki Pradhan, Monika, Neha Goyal, Lilima Minz, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Chetna, Reet, Anuja Singh, Karishma Yadav and Sonika Forwards: Rani, Lalremsiami, Vandana Katariya, Navjot Kaur, Navneet Kaur, Rajwinder Kaur, Jyoti, Sharmila Devi, Amandeep Kaur and Priyanka Wankhede.