CHENNAI: Hockey India (HI) on Tuesday announced the 20-member women's squad for the upcoming tours of Germany and Spain. Both events will act as a preparation for the team ahead of the 2023 Asian Games.
Jyoti Chhatri, who impressed during India's victory in the women's Junior Asia Cup, earned a senior call-up, with head coach Janneke Schopman praising the young Odisha midfielder. "Our core group is getting stronger. Jyoti is very talented. (We will see) what she would bring to the senior team at that highest level," the coach said during a press conference.
Chattri was part of the 33-player senior national camp, rubbing shoulders with captain Savita Punia and fellow midfielder Salima Tete. "Before she went to the Asia Cup, she was part of the camp with the senior team. At that time, we saw her talent. She is good in both attack and defence. As a senior player, we are happy to see players come up the ranks. The competition keeps us on our toes," Punia added.
India will play three Tests, one against China and two against Germany, in Frankfurt from 16 to 19 July 2023. In Spain, they will feature in an invitational meet, also featuring South Africa, and England from 25 July.
With Hangzhou 2023 around the corner, Schopman believes these tours will present a development opportunity. "I have told the team that this is not necessarily the case that the people that go now on tour will all make it to the Asian Games or that someone that didn't make it for this tour is not going to China," Schopman insisted.
After heartbreak in the 2018 edition in Indonesia, where India lost to Japan in the final, Punia hopes to go one step further and bag India's first gold in the event since 1982. The journey towards that will start with these tours "We are eager to play against the good teams. Spain and England are among the top teams in the world. We get the opportunity to improve our game, match-by-match, when we play against these teams.