K ARUMUGAM

Rio Olympics captain Sushila Chanu was seen heavy strapped on her thighs, still playing almost all matches in the just concluded Asian Games. Befitting her grit and determination, the all rounder  struck the winning goal off a penalty corner in the bronze medal contest against Japan. Both the midfielder Sushila and centre forward Vaishnav Devi Phalke — who was supposed to fill in the vacuum created by the controversial sidelining of Rani Rampal — will not be seen in action at Ranchi. Phalke is though kept among the reserve category along with Sharmila Devi, who missed the Hangzhou bus.

Heavily strapped Sushila Chanu  (left) is justifiably rested for the home ACT                             Pic: K. Arumugam

Sushila was injured and missed the 2018 Asian Games too before recovering to get her place in the early 2019.

In the presser held after the Bronze Medal match at Hangzhou, captain Savita explained that how the forthcoming  tournament, which comes to India after a long time, is important for them to do well insofar as the promotion of women’s hockey is concerned.

“We are hosting a major tournament for Women after a long time. We, the team, are eagerly waiting for it. Being held in India we also have responsibility to do well in Jhansi because we are hosting and we are expected to do well so that public interest in our sport continues”, the veteran said.

It is clear therefore the team accords top priority to the home tournament, and the team composition also confirm it. The entire team is continued.

What however perplexes is the axe for the under-performance seemed to have fallen on young striker Vaishno Devi Phalke.

It seems a bit unfair for the up and coming player.

Besides India, Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand are the other participating nations. These five countries were in action at Hangzhou too.

India will open their ACT campaign against Thailand October 27, followed by matches against Malaysia (October 28), China (October 30), Japan (October 31) and Korea (November 2). The semifinals and final are scheduled for November 4 and 5.

Indian team for the Home ACT

Goalkeepers: Savita (captain), Bichu Devi Kharibam

Defenders: Nikki Pradhan, Udita, Ishika Chaudhary, Deep Grace Ekka (vice-captain)

Midfielders: Nisha, Salima Tete, Neha, Navneet Kaur, Sonika, Monika, Jyoti,

Baljeet Kaur

Forwards: Lalremsiami, Sangita Kumari, Deepika, Vandana Katariya

Replacement players: Sharmila Devi, Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke.