Focus on fitness as women’s team gears up for Olympics

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 15

Hockey India on Saturday named the 25-member core probables list for the upcoming senior women national camp ahead of the 6th Women’s Asian Champions Trophy and Tokyo Olympics.

The training and conditioning camp, which is scheduled to begin from tomorrow at the Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru campus, will focus on fitness, ball-handling, structure and strategies, along with working on key areas which were identified from the team’s recent tour of New Zealand.

The players will report to chief coach Sjoerd Marijne for the 27-day training and conditioning camp.

“With the knowledge of the previous tour of New Zealand, we have identified some areas where we need to improve, and we will have the chance to fine-tune on these areas,” said Marijne.

“It is an important phase in our preparations for the Tokyo Olympics, and so the upcoming camp will be focused on the fitness because this is the moment where we can build and have extra load in our training sessions,” the coach added.

The Indian team began the New Year with a tour of New Zealand where they were involved in four matches against the World No. 7 side, along with one match against the Great Britain.

Core probables

• Goalkeepers Savita, Rajani Etimarpu, Bichu Devi Kharibam
• Defenders Deep Grace Ekka, Reena Khokhar, Salima Tete, Manpreet Kaur, Gurjit Kaur, Nisha
• Midfielders Nikki Pradhan, Monika, Neha Goyal, Lilima Minz, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Sonika, Namita Toppo
• Forwards Rani, Lalremsiami, Vandana Katariya, Navjot Kaur, Navneet Kaur, Rajwinder Kaur, Jyoti, Sharmila Devi, Udita