CHENNAI: It has been a long three weeks for the Indian women's hockey team since their loss in the bronze medal fixture of the Olympic Qualifiers in Ranchi. With all said and done, the Savita Punia-led team, hurting from missing out on the Paris 2024 berth, needed to dust themselves off and get ready for the FIH Pro League, starting at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
"As a team we are hurting still, it has been a tough two weeks," chief coach Janneke Schopman told media ahead of the first fixture against China. "We have done a lot of talking and thinking about what happened and why it happened. We want to show that we are a good team and we can play against good teams as well. We won't get the Olympics back but we can only move forward and that is our plan here, to move forward, to play to our strengths, and to show that we can play well," she added.
Despite the gloom and doom of the missed opportunities, one of the positives for India has been the inclusion of their vice-captain Vandana Kataria, who missed out on the Olympic Qualifiers because of a cheekbone fracture. with the experience of more than 300 fixtures for India, her presence will make India's attack more potent. Despite the continuous efforts from the likes of Salima Tete and Neha Goyal, India could not score a goal in the bronze medal match against Japan. Kataria's inclusion would certainly help to convert those chances into goals. The addition of the local player, Jyoti Chhatri, fresh off the silver medal win in the Women's Hockey5s World Cup in Oman, could also help the team as the 20-year-old has proved her mettle on different levels.
India will start the campaign against Asian Games gold medalist China, followed by a fixture against no. 1 ranked Netherlands. Before moving to Rourkela for the second leg of the Pro League, India will face Australia and the USA in Bhubaneswar. The hosts will face all four opponents again in the second leg of the tournament, starting from February 12. It is a great opportunity for the eighth-ranked India to see how far they have come against some of the top-ranked teams like the Netherlands and Australia. Schopman echoed the similar sentiments.
"I have said this before... unfortunately, in the last year we haven't played very many matches that mattered to be completely honest. We were not in the Pro League. From January to September we maybe played four official matches. In the Pro League, you play 16. In the Pro League, we have the opportunity to see how we fare against some of the best teams in the world. The exciting thing is that we are up against these teams and they are not practice matches, it is hugely important for them before the Olympics and it will be great to take them on," the coach underlined.
With the retirement of Deep Grace Ekka, India are left with limited resources in the drag flick department as currently Deepika and Gurjit Kaur are the only recognised options capable of executing the routines. This very aspect of the game hurt the hosts in the Olympic qualifiers as they could not convert a single goal despite getting nine penalty corners against Japan. Schopman once again called for more depth regarding the drag flicks. "We need potentially more depth in our penalty corner. That is a concern in women's hockey in India. If you look at any other country in the top 10, they have 5-6 drag flickers and we do not. So there's work that needs to be happening in talent development," the coach reiterated.
As the winner of the Pro League would earn direct qualification for the 2026 World Cup, all fixtures are equally important for every team. India's chance to dust off the major heartbreak and embrace the fresh beginning starts now.
India's schedule:
In Bhubaneshwar
Feb 3 vs China
Feb 4 vs Netherlands
Feb 7 vs Australia
Feb 9 vs USA
In Rourkela
Feb 12 vs China
Feb 14 vs Netherlands
Feb 17 vs Australia
Feb 19 vs USA