A week since their return from the Tour of South Africa where the Indian Women’s Hockey Team took on the hosts in a four-match series and also played World No.1 Netherlands in three friendly matches, Captain Savita opened up on the team’s start to the year.
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The Indian skipper, in a chat with Hockey India, talked about the Indian team’s positive start to the new season this year.
Against hosts South Africa, India won 5-1, 7-0 and 4-0 and drew 2-2 in the last game. Meanwhile, against Netherlands they lost the three friendlies 1-3.
Speaking about the year, Savita said this was an important year for the Indian women’s team. “It’s a very important year for us as we are aiming for direct qualification for Paris Olympics by winning the Asian Games. Last time, we came so close to winning the Gold, losing only by a goal to Japan. This year we are optimistic, particularly because we have got some very good international exposure over the last few years. Also, we are way more confident and aggressive in crunch matches,” Savita said.
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The tour helped us bond better: Savita
The Indian skipper further opened up about their series in South Africa. “We have begun the year quite positively, winning three matches and a draw against South Africa followed by good matches against the Netherlands. The tour also helped us bond better as a team, we went around Cape Town – a beautiful city and the team really enjoyed being out there,” she added.
The Indian Women’s Team will return to SAI, Bengaluru for National Camp starting 12th February. In the six-week camp, the team will focus on their strength and conditioning, apart from improvising on some of the technical aspects of the game after thoroughly reviewing their recent performance in Cape Town.
“Chief Coach Janneke will once again review our performance in Cape Town and we will have individual as well as team meetings to analyze the areas that need to improve. I believe the next six months ahead of Asian Games is going to be quite exciting with each player wanting to showcase their best and make the Asian Games squad,” Savita signed off.
