Hockey Team Leaves For 9th Women's Asia Cup

The Indian women’s hockey team, captained by Rani Rampal, has departed for the 9th Women's Asia Cup 2017. The tournament is going to commence from 28^th October in Kakamigahara, Japan.

It is here that the Indian team can fight it out to make the cut for next year's Women's Hockey World Cup in London. This is the first major tournament when Coach Harendra Singh and the team are working together. The team trained at National Camp at SAI, Bengaluru, for the past four weeks.

"We are confident that we can perform well against the best teams in Asia. And we are also keeping in mind that we cannot take any team lightly in such a big competition as Asia Cup," - Rani Rampal

In September, the team returned from their tour of The Netherlands and Belgium. Singh is confident that the team will stand strong against higher ranked teams like China, Korea and Japan in the Asia Cup.

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“We have been training well at the National Camp for the past four weeks in order to prepare for the Women's Asia Cup in Japan. The 18-member team has had the right exposure in the past few months. We toured Europe and played against tough opponents. At the Women's Asia Cup, we will look to perform well in order to confirm qualification for next year's World Cup,” said Chief Coach Harendra Singh, Business Standard reported.

Rani is also taking the tournament in her stride and is confident of performing well. Before leaving, she said, “We have been working on our structure and defensive strategies to improve our game. Speed also plays a huge role in today's hockey. We are confident that we can perform well against the best teams in Asia. And we are also keeping in mind that we cannot take any team lightly in such a big competition.”

Currently, India is ranked 12^th in the world. It is taking part in the tournament with three other Asian teams—China, Korea and Japan. All three teams have a higher world ranking than India. China is ranked at 8^th position, Korea at 9^th and Japan at 11^th place.