Katrin excited about playing in India

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Katrin Bremmer exudes rare confidence. She is on her first trip to India but appears relaxed. She knows her capabilities and her team’s resolve to make the most of the opportunities that have come through a most desirable medium.

The four-nation Shastri under-21 women’s hockey tournament, involving India, Australia, Germany and New Zealand is a platform for all teams to test their mettle and showcase their talent. The tournament commences on Tuesday. Katrin is excited.

“We don’t have much experience of playing against India and playing in India. The tournament offers a new challenge for us. We are in the process of learning and this tournament would help us a lot,” said Katrin, captain of the German team.

AN EXPERIMENT

For Australia, New Zealand and Germany, the competition is an experiment. The Australians have come with a team that has three promising players from the under-17 team. It is basically a team that has some promising players with an eye on development of talent for the junior World Cup.

The Germans are aiming to prepare the team for the forthcoming Euro Cup. It is an important tournament in the team’s calendar. The New Zealand team has come in full strength, looking to make an impact with a very young side.

Poonam Rani, the India captain, was keen to drive home the point that the host team would like to make the most of it. “We don’t have much experience of playing against these teams but we can learn from it certainly,” said Poonam.

SECURITY CONCERNS

The organisers, meanwhile, are struggling to make the venue spectator friendly.

“Too many security concerns,” confessed an official. The biggest issue is parking with the organisers appealing to hockey lovers to “please come and cheer” despite some stifling security measures by Delhi Police.