The Indian women’s hockey team will be hoping to repeat its feat from two years ago and emerge victorious at the Hero Hockey World League Round Two beginning here on Saturday.
While the number of teams has increased from six in 2013 to eight now and the format changed, India continues to be the favourite to win the competition.
If anything, the opposition has only weakened since then, when India went down to Japan for its only defeat in the 2013 edition. Both the finalists would go through to the next round, which would be the qualification event for Rio Olympics.
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This time around, the World No. 13 host will kickstart its campaign against Ghana, ranked 17 places below. While both the coach and the players are guarding against complacency, there is no denying the sense of ease around the team for the opening game.“Yes, it might be a bit easy for us because of the rankings and we should win but you can’t take anyone lightly. Also, we have never played them before and it is difficult to plan for a team that you know nothing about,” admitted captain Ritu Rani.
India’s only concern would be the fitness of drag-flicker Jaspreet Kaur, suffering a finger injury, and striker Rani, returning from a six-month long lay-off due to a dislocated shoulder. Coach Roelant Oltmans, though, has allayed any serious issues.Ghana, on the other hand, knows it is up against odds. Having had little practice before the tournament, the players admit they have their task cut out. The difference in the team’s levels can be gauged from the fact that the total number of matches played by Ghana is 278, while Ritu alone has 193 caps.The other teams in India’s group — Poland and Thailand — too should be easy pickings for India, though the format of the competition means all teams go through to the quarterfinals regardless of the result in the league stages. However, India will be hoping to avoid Malaysia, the second-highest ranked team in the fray at 21 — placed in Group B along with Russia, Kazakhstan and Singapore — before the final.The tournament will be telecast live on DD Sports.
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