FIH Pro League: Final revision before World Cup test

Rotterdam, June 20

With the World Cup just around the corner, the Indian women’s team would look to utilise its last FIH Pro League double-header tie against the USA to address some of the issues.

The team produced a remarkable performance in its debut Pro League season, occupying the third spot in the standings with 24 points from 14 games behind the Netherlands (32 points from 14 matches) and Argentina, who have already clinched the title with 42 points from 16 games.

Belgium are close on the heels of India with 22 points from 14 matches, and the Savita Punia-led side would be eyeing to sign off the campaign with wins over the Americans to finish a creditable third.

The matches against USA will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In their last tie, India registered a 2-1 shootout win (3-3 in regulation time) and a narrow 2-3 loss against Olympics silver medallists Argentina over the weekend.

The two matches against the USA will provide them a perfect platform to mix and match ahead of the marquee event beginning on July 1.

“For us, the most important thing is that we could execute our plans and put up an improved performance from our matches against Argentina over the weekend. We could have done better, but I feel these matches are a confidence booster for us ahead of the World Cup,” captain Punia said. “There is still room for improvement for us and we look forward to plugging the gaps in the matches against the USA. We’ve gained good momentum and hopefully we will finish our debut Pro League campaign with good results,” she added.

In the World Cup, India are placed in Pool B along with England, China and New Zealand. India will kick off their campaign against England on July 3 in Amstelveen, Netherlands.

Punia said the team is shaping up really well for the quadrennial tournament. “We are glad that we have got a good opportunity of playing in Europe just a few days ahead of the World Cup, so the build-up towards the big event has been really great. The team is shaping up really well for the World Cup,” she said.