Bhubaneswar: The Indian Women’s Hockey Team will begin their campaign at the Women’s Asian Hockey 5s World Cup Qualifier against Malaysia in Salalah, Oman on August 25th.
The tournament is scheduled to take place from 25th to 28th August, 2023. India are in the Elite Pool along with Japan, Malaysia, and Thailand. The second, Challengers Pool, consists of Hong Kong China, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iran, and Oman.
A total of 16 teams will be taking part in the 2024 FIH Hockey 5s World Cup. Oman, being the host nation has already qualified. For the Indian Women’s Hockey Team to qualify for the 2024 FIH Hockey 5s World Cup, they need to finish in the top 3. Besides this, the top 3 teams from Africa, America, Europe and Oceania will also qualify for the 2024 FIH Hockey 5s World Cup.
The last time, the Indian Women’s Hockey Team played against Malaysia was during the Women’s Hockey Asia Cup 2022. The Indian Women’s Hockey Team won by 9-0. Against Japan, they locked horns at the Women’s Hockey Asia Cup 2022. The Indian team went down 2-0. They faced Thailand last in the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy in Donghae, South Korea, where the Indian Women’s Team won by a margin of 13-0.
“There are some quality teams in the qualifiers, so we have to be at our best,” said Captain Navjot Kaur, before adding, “We cannot take anything for granted. We will take things slowly, try to play fluid attacking hockey and work hard to qualify for the 2024 FIH Hockey 5s World Cup. In every match, we will put our best foot forward. We will aim to be the best and finish first after working on our strengths and weaknesses over the last few months.”
Meanwhile, sharing her Captain’s sentiments, Vice-Captain Jyoti said, “Every team participating here wants to be the best. We understand what is at stake, and we will not take any team lightly. We’ve been putting in a lot of work in the gym. The preparations have been excellent, and our previous performances will boost the players’ confidence. We want to represent the country at the highest level in this format, and the players are eager to deliver.”
