The Indian women’s hockey team will now focus on the upcoming Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games which begins on 28 July. Head coach Janke Schopmann’s team is embarking on a tough campaign at the recently concluded FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain and Netherlands 2022 but are now eyeing success in Birmingham.
Transfer Window 2023: From Haaland to Richardson, these are the top strikers signed by Premier League clubs
Speaking to the media a day after arriving in the United Kingdom ahead of the Commonwealth Games, the head coach, Janke Schopman, said it would be necessary to sharpen his skills to go ahead.
“Our performance in the World Cup was not good in terms of results but we created a lot of PC chances and played well overall. It was our execution that was not the best. We will focus on achieving our performance niche going forward and prepare for the Commonwealth Games accordingly. We need better training to improve execution,” said Shopman.
“The way we play has changed, with other teams setting up defensively against us, instead of defending as much as before,” he said.
The Indian team will have a training camp before the Commonwealth Games in Nottingham.
According to senior player Nikki Pradhan, the team is in good spirits as they prepare to intensify preparations for the final round ahead of the prestigious Quadrennial Games.
“The mood in the team is good at the moment. We want to play good matches in the Commonwealth Games and play aggressive games here. We weren’t able to score too many goals in the World Cup, but we hope to change that now,” Pradhan said.
Looking at the tough campaign of the recent World Cup, Monica said that she did not get the kind of results that she would have liked, but added that the overall performance was not a problem.
“I would say we played well from the start of the World Cup. We played as a team from the beginning but with the New Zealand game, it was a tough match and things were not going on that day. Unfortunately, we made our PCs. But we will work on them going forward. The performance though was good overall for us,” said Monica.
French Grand Prix 2022: Williams ready to run both cars with upgrades
Talking about the ongoing heat wave in the United Kingdom, Koch played down any concerns.
“It is hot but it is what it is and we have trained and played in Bhubaneswar where it is also quite hot and humid. We haven’t even seen the actual field in Birmingham, but although it is, we have to make the best of the conditions that are on offer,” Schopman said.
The Indian women’s team won gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games (Manchester) and silver at the 2006 edition in Melbourne. Recently, he finished a very reliable fourth at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
The Indian team captained by Savita begins their campaign with a game against Ghana (18:30 IST) in Birmingham on 29 July, England (18:30 IST), before playing Wales (23:30 IST) on 30 July ) on 02 August and Canada (15:30 IST) in the preliminary round on 03 August.
The matches will be telecast on Sony Network.
read all breaking news, today’s fresh newswatch top videos And live TV Here.