India Women Hockey Team on Europe Experience tour
A 21-member Indian women’s hockey team, led by Ritu Rani, will tour Europe starting from today, and will play against national and club teams of Spain, Dutch and Germany.
The team will leave for Spain to play matches at Valencia from 10 – 24 February 2015. The preparatory camp for the tour had commenced on 10 January 2015 at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Delhi. The series is in preparation for the FIH World League Round 2, to be held in New Delhi from 7 – 15 March, 2015.
According to a press release from Hockey India, during the fifteen day tour, the Indian team will be playing two matches with Spain followed by two with Dutch hockey clubs, GCHC and HDM. Two matches are also slated to be played with Germany giving the team a holistic experience of working against varied strategies.
The Test matches will also provide ground to the entire team to work on their skills and perfect their team coordination.
Speaking on the team that will be playing the upcoming series, Coach, C.R Kumar said, “The team looks confident ahead of the matches and I am sure they will give a tough time to the opponents. The girls have been practicing for almost a month now and this has helped them to gel well and create a good team coordination on the field. The team will leave no stone unturned during the tour and will use this experience in the all important FIH World League Round 2”.
The team: GOALKEEPERS: Savita and Rajani Etimarpu
DEFENDERS:Deep Grace Ekka, Jaspreet Kaur, Ponnamma Mallamada Narendra, Sunita Lakra, Renuka Yadav, Namita Toppo, Deepika (Vice Captain)
MIDFIELDERS:
Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam,
Lilima Minz,
Ritu Rani (Captain),
Lily Chanu Mayengbam,
Navjot Kaur,
Monika,
FORWARDS:
Amandeep Kaur
Anupa Barla
Punam Barla
Poonam Rani
Vandana Katariya
Soundarya Yendala