Indian women ready for Azerbaijan

Ritu Sejwal, TNN

NEW DELHI: With only a month to go for the London Olympic qualifiers, the Indian women’s hockey team has decided to leave behind injury woes and instead make the most of the four-‘test’ match series it is set to play against Azerbaijan at the Major Dhyan Chand National stadium from Sunday.

“It will be a good exposure for everyone. We want to see how the girls perform, whether they can sustain the intensity during pressure moments. This test series will help us analyse all that,” team’s coach C R Kumar said on Friday.

“On the exposure trips in the past, we missed out on important field goal opportunities as the girls only managed to score goals through penalty corners,” he said referring to the team’s performance in the four-nation tournament in Argentina.

However, the coach brushed aside any major fitness issues in the team. “There are no major injuries. Some members had niggles during the ‘test’ series in Australia but have recovered. Yes, they are yet to match the fitness levels required in a hockey game,” Kumar added.

The Indian camp has 48 probables and the performance in the upcoming series will decide who gets to don Indian colours in the Olympic qualifiers from February 18-26. India will compete against Ukraine, Poland, Canada, Italy and South Africa in the qualifiers.

“The national selectors will be present during the series to shortlist the final team for the qualifiers. The idea is that everyone gets the exposure,” he said.