Veteran goalkeeper Savita will lead India in the upcoming Women’s Asia Cup to be held in Muscat as Hockey India on Wednesday announced an 18-member squad for the event, comprising 16 players, who competed in the Tokyo Olympics. As regular skipper Rani Rampal is recovering from injury in Bengaluru, Savita will lead the team in the tournament, which is scheduled to take place from January 21-28 at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.
India are placed in Pool A along with Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. They will open their title defense against Malaysia on the first day. They will next face Japan (January 23) and Singapore (January 24).
The semi-finals will be played on January 26 and the final on January 28.
The top four teams will qualify for the 2022 World Cup to be held in Spain and the Netherlands.
Veteran defender Deep Grace Ekka will be Savita’s deputy.
The team consists of goalkeeper Rajni Etimarpu and defenders Gurjit Kaur, Nikki Pradhan and Udita.
The midfield consists of Nisha, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Monica, Neha, Salima Tete, Jyoti and Navjot Kaur, while the forward line will consist of Navneet Kaur, Lalremsiami, Vandana Katariya, Mariana Kujur and Sharmila Devi.
The team also has Deepika (Jr) and Ishika Choudhary as replacement athletes.
Head coach Janke Schopmann said, “This is a very important tournament for us and I am happy with the team we have selected, which is a mix of some very experienced players as well as talented youngsters, who have played a lot at the international level. The possibilities are visible.”
“Although we were a little disappointed with how things went for us in the Asian Champions Trophy, we were able to return to the camp at SAI, Bengaluru and have had a few good hockey sessions to prepare well for this challenge.”
In the last edition held in 2017, India defeated China 5-4 in a tense shootout to clinch the title.
Indian women’s team:
Goalkeeper: Savita (c), Rajni Ethimarpu.
Protector: Deep Grace Ekka (VC), Gurjit Kaur, Nikki Pradhan, Udita.
Midfielder: Nisha, Sushila Chanu, Monica, Neha, Salima Tete, Jyoti, Navjot Kaur.
Ahead: Navneet Kaur, Lalremsiami, Vandana Kataria, Mariana Kujur, Sharmila Devi.
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