Olympian Lalremsiami was on Monday named captain of the 18-member Indian junior women’s hockey team, which will participate in the FIH Women’s Junior World Cup South Africa 2021, starting December 5.
Defender Ishika Chaudhary has been made the vice-captain of the team.
The top 16 teams in the tournament will fight for the title, which was previously won by Argentina in 2016. India’s best performance in the event came in 2013 where they defeated England to win the bronze medal.
Apart from Lalremsiami, who was part of India’s historic performance at the Tokyo Olympics, where the women’s team finished fourth, other members who were part of the campaign at the quadrennial Games include Salima Tete and Sharmila Devi.
The team also includes Bichu Devi Kharibam, Khushboo, Akshata Abso Dhakale, Priyanka, Marina Lalramanghaki, Ajmina Kujur, Baljit Kaur, Reet, Vaishnavi Vithal Phalke, Beauty Dungdung, Deepika, Mumtaz Khan, Sangeeta Kumari, Jeevan Kishori Toppo.
Preeti and Prabhleen Kaur have been selected as alternate players (AP) who will be allowed to play only if there is an injury or someone in the 18-member squad is ruled out due to COVID-19.
The head coach, Janke Schopmann, said on Monday: “It was extremely difficult to make the final selection of 18 players, especially all 28 players in the core potential group who worked very hard and made good progress over the past months. But we feel we have picked a strong team which is capable of competing with every team in the Junior World Cup.
“With the experience of the senior team and some great young talent, we will show India the best. The team is very excited as they have waited a long time to compete at the world level and we look forward to making the most of this great opportunity.”
India are in Pool C and will start their campaign against Russia on 6 December. They will take on defending champions Argentina on 7 December in a round-robin league, followed by a match against Japan on 9 December.
The knockout matches will be held from December 10 to 16. Teams in the field include the Netherlands, Korea, Ireland, Zimbabwe in Pool A, England, Belgium, Canada and Uruguay in Pool B. The pool includes Argentina, India, Japan and Russia. C while Germany, Spain, USA and South Africa are in Pool D.
Squad: Bichu Devi Kharibam (GK), Khushboo (GK); Akshata Abso Dhakale, Ishika Choudhary, Priyanka, Marina Lalramanghaki, Ajmina Kujur, Baljit Kaur, Reet, Vaishnavi Vithal Phalke, Salima Tete, Sharmila Devi, Lalremsiami, Beauty Dungdung, Deepika, Mumtaz Khan, Sangeeta Kumari and Jeevan Kishori Toppo.
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