The Indian junior women’s hockey team on Friday left for Johannesburg, South Africa to participate in the much-awaited FIH Women’s Junior World Cup 2021. The marquee event, which was postponed till 2022 due to the threat of Kovid-19, will start from April. 1 in Potchefstroom, South Africa.
This will be the junior women’s first international outing since the 2021 tour of Chile, where she remained unbeaten.
Expressing the excitement of the team before their departure, Captain Salima Tete said, “The long wait for us is finally over. We are extremely excited to be participating in the Junior World Cup. We got a good time to prepare ourselves, we trained with the senior team and I think that will help us do well in the competition. We are really looking forward to this challenge and we aim to finish on the podium.”
India in Pool D will start their campaign from Wales on 2 April. Their second match will be against Germany on 3 April, followed by their last pool stage match against Malaysia on 5 April.
Talking about the team’s preparations, Salima said, “Many players like Akshata Abso Dhakale, Deepika, Sangeeta Kumari, Bichu Devi Kharibam and Ishika Choudhary have recently made their senior team debut in FIH Hockey Pro League 2021/22. That’s why we are very much. In a good frame of mind. We are in a good position and are confident of doing well. We also got a chance to play practice matches with the senior team, so the training and preparation has been really good. We are motivated, and will definitely give our best to finish on the podium.”
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