CHENNAI: The Indian team has been quite impressive so far at the ongoing FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup in Potchefstroom, South Africa. They topped Pool D winning all three round-robin matches including one against former champions Germany to storm into the quarterfinals, where they meet formidable Korea on Friday.
The Salima Tete-led side have sounded the board 11 times and conceded only twice so far. Playing with speed has been their strength but two-time champions Korea are known to slow down their opponents with a solid defensive structure.
Aware of the possible ploy their opponents may implement against them, captain Salima says the team will focus on its strength. “We will not play the game at their speed. We have to make them play at our speed, which has been our strength,” said Salima during a pre-match media interaction on Wednesday. Vice-captain Ishika Chaudhary also agreed with her and added, “Yes, speed has been our advantage and Korea is a team who can slow their opponent down. This is something we will be conscious about and we try to work our way around it and focus on creating space.”
The women have featured in four editions of the global event so far and their best finish came in 2013 when they claimed a bronze medal. They didn’t qualify for the previous edition held in 2016. The team comprises three Olympians — Salima and strikers Lalremsiami and Sharmila Devi. Their presence has helped the team to a great extent. Besides, goalkeeper Bichu Devi Kharibam also made her senior debut recently. “Many of us have been playing together for over three years now, there’s good team bonding and we understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” said Ishika.
Matches will be live streamed on watch.hockey as well as FanCode app.