India will begin their campaign in this year’s FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup against England on July 3, two days after the marquee tournament opens in Spain and the Netherlands.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced the schedule on Tuesday.
In Pool B, India will next face China on 5 July and New Zealand on 7 July.
India will play all their pool matches at the Wagner Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen, Netherlands in the event to be held from July 1 to 17.
Soon after the schedule became public, India women’s team halfback Sushila Chanu said that the team would not be afraid of any opposition.
“It doesn’t matter which opponents we launch our campaign against. We are not afraid as our mindset and our mindset is to take each game and try and win every match,” Chanu said in a virtual press conference.
“We have recently faced China in the Women’s Hockey Asia Cup 2022 and FIH Hockey Pro League 2021/22, in Muscat, Oman. And so it will be an advantage for us,” she insisted.
“We will play the FIH Hockey Pro League 2021/22 match against England next month. We last played against New Zealand in 2020. So we know these teams very well and we know how to prepare for the challenges ahead.”
India played Spain in the double leg FIH Pro League last weekend at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, where they won the first match 2-1 before losing 3-4 in the next game.
India’s forward Navneet Kaur said the team has gained confidence over the years due to facing high-ranking opponents consistently.
“Around 2-3 years ago, facing strong opponents used to be a concern in the team. But now there is no fear in our team and we feel that we are ready to face every challenge.
Navneet said, ‘Even if an opponent scores the first goal, we know that we have the ability and skill to turn things in our favour.
“Our team has developed a fighting spirit over the years. It has worked out really well for us,” she said.
India will next face Germany on March 12 and 13 in the FIH Pro League.
“We have faced against Germany last year. So, we will definitely take a look at the videos of those matches to identify which are our strong areas, and which areas we need to improve upon, when we face them again,” Navneet said.
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