Indian Women’s Hockey Team To Start Nations Cup Tune-Up With Australia Tour
India’s women hockey team for the Asian Games 2023 pose for photographs (file Photo: IANS)
The India women’s national field hockey team will begin its preparations for the upcoming FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup with a tour of Australia from May 21 to June 3, Hockey India announced on Wednesday. The Nations Cup is scheduled to be held in Auckland from June 15 to 21.
As part of the preparatory tour, India will play four matches against the Australia women’s national field hockey team at the Perth Hockey Stadium between May 26 and 30. The first two matches, on May 26 and 27, will begin at 5:00 pm IST, while the remaining fixtures on May 29 and 30 are scheduled for 11:00 am IST.
Following the Australia leg, the Indian side will travel to New Zealand for further training and practice matches ahead of the Nations Cup, according to a Hockey India release.
India heads into the tour on the back of an encouraging performance in Argentina earlier this year, where the team secured two wins in a four-match series. Since returning, the squad has been training intensively at the national camp in Bengaluru, with a focus on sharpening key aspects of its game ahead of a demanding international season.
In a significant boost, the team’s drag-flickers will also attend a specialised training clinic under Dutch legend Taeke Taekema from May 26 to June 21 in Perth and Auckland. The initiative is being supported by Anandana, the Coca-Cola India Foundation.
Highlighting the importance of the tour, Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne said the matches would provide an important benchmark for the team’s progress.
“Very happy that this tour has been made possible by Hockey India because these matches will help us identify our shortcomings and also our improvements after our camps. We have seen what the benchmark is when we played Argentina; we can now test how close we are to reaching the level of our last two wins and maintain the momentum,” Marijne said.
The Dutch coach also stressed the value of acclimatisation ahead of the New Zealand tournament.
“Instead of making a long flight, we cut the travel into pieces so the acclimatisation will go faster. The weather is colder in New Zealand, and Perth’s conditions will be closer to that,” he added.
