New Delhi: The Indian Women’s Hockey Team are all geared up to take on hosts Australia Thursday in the first game of their trip Down Under, where they will play five matches from May 18-27 at MATE Stadium in Adelaide.
The team led by ace goalkeeper Savita and Vice Captained by Deep Grace Ekka will play Australia in the first three games of the series, followed by two matches against Australia A. The tour is part of the Indian team’s preparations for the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games 2023, which will take place in September-October this year.
The Indian team will open their tour with a match against Australia on the 18th May before playing back-to-back games May 20 and May 21. The visitors will then compete against Australia A May 25 and May 27. The Australian Women’s Hockey Team is currently ranked third in the world, while the Indian team is ranked eighth.
Notably, the Indian Women’s Hockey Team left for Adelaide May 14 and since then they have been training there to get acclimatised to the conditions in Australia. Speaking on the same, Captain Savita said, “We are training everyday and even under the lights so that the team get used to the field and circumstances in Adelaide as our matches are scheduled to take place in the evening.”
“We even had our training session this morning, and the team did some gameplay as we are getting ready for our first game tomorrow,” she added.
Meanwhile, Janneke Schopman, the Chief Coach of the Indian Women’s Hockey Team, said that the team is all geared up to play against Australia.
“Players are excited and ready to take on Australia. The weather is quite nice here. We are feeling good and are ready to show what we’ve been working on in the last couple of weeks,” Schopman said.
Interestingly, the Indian Women’s Hockey Team defeated Australia 1-0 in the Semi-Finals of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. It was a historic victory for the Indian team as they were competing in only their third Olympics and qualified for the Quarter-Finals for the first time, while Australia were three-time gold medallists.
The Indian team also fought hard against Australia in the Commonwealth Games 2022 Semi-Final match in Birmingham, tying the score at 1-1 at the end of regulation time. However, Australia won the penalty shoot-out 3-0 to make it to the Final, which they lost to England. Meanwhile, India won their 3rd/4th place match to take the Bronze medal home.
India tour of Australia Schedule
May 18, Thursday: India vs Australia at 14:15 IST
May 20, Saturday: India vs Australia at 14:15 IST
May 21, Sunday: India vs Australia at 13:45 IST
May 25, Thursday: India vs Australia A at 14:15 IST
May 27, Saturday: India vs Australia A at 14:15 IST
IANS