India The men’s and women’s hockey teams left for Lausanne, Switzerland early on Wednesday to participate in the inaugural edition of FIH Hockey 5 Lausanne 2022, which will be held on 4-5 June.
While the men’s team will play Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland and Switzerland, the women’s team will take on South Africa, Uruguay, Poland and Switzerland in the round-robin stage. The top two teams will meet in the final on 5 June.
The women’s team, led by Rajni Etimarpu, will take on Uruguay in their opening match on 4 June followed by a match against Poland on the same day. They will then take on hosts Switzerland and South Africa respectively on June 5.
Expressing the excitement of the team before his departure, Rajini said, “Hockey 5 will be a different ball game altogether. Our skills, speed and everything will be put to the test. It will definitely be challenging, but I think it will be a really exciting format to play. We have some players in our team who are familiar with this format and we have prepared well in the camp. We look forward to representing our country in the inaugural edition of Hockey5.”
Meanwhile, the Indian men’s team led by Gurinder Singh will play their first match against hosts Switzerland, followed by a match against Pakistan on the first day. They will face Malaysia and Poland on June 5.
“We are really excited to be playing a different version of hockey at the international level, that too in a beautiful country. It is a fast-paced and challenging format. Many of our players have played in this format in the Youth Olympics before, so we are confident of doing well.
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