The Indian women's hockey team today take on Italy in their last group game ofthe FIH Women's Hockey Olympic Qualifiers and they cannot afford a loss or a tie. India got off to a shocking start in the tournament, losing to USA in the opening group clash. India's Olympics qualification chances received a big jolt but the team regrouped in time to deliver the punch in the 2nd game vs New Zealand.
The Savita Punia-led side won 3-1 against New Zealand to stay afloat in the race to Paris Olympics 2024. Coach Janneke Schopman said that she had told the team to go all guns blazing and play for their pride against New Zealand and it worked. "I think it was just a shift in mindset. Yesterday, we were not good, we struggled as a team, we fought and tried but couldn’t make it click. More than me, the girls had a meeting, and then we prepared for NZ. It was just about figuring out how to play hockey again, and I think we did that today,” Schopman admitted after Sunday’s game.
Schopman told the girls, "If you think of pressure (against the USA), today there was way more than that because we knew that we can’t lose and even a tie is probably not enough. Everyone knew what was at stake. I just told them, ‘You owe it to yourself to play hockey today, let’s just do it, and then we will see what happens."
Music to our ears __#FIHOlympicQualifiers #HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #EnRouteToParis @CMO_Odisha @FIH_Hockey @IndiaSports @sports_odisha @Media_SAI @HemantSorenJMM pic.twitter.com/tVesN7fwCv
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) January 15, 2024
Italy are lower-ranked team and India now must deliver a dominant win to ensure they make it to the semifinals. The Ranchi stadium will be packed to the last seat to cheer for the national team as India aim to seal the berth in Olympics this later this year.
Ahead of the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024, here are the live streaming and other details of the IND Vs USA women's Hockey Pool B match:
The IND vs ITA women's Hockey Pool B match will be played on Tuesday, 16th Jan 2024 at Ranchi's Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astro Turf Stadium.
The IND vs ITA women's Hockey Pool B match will start at 7:30 PM IST.
The IND vs ITA women's Hockey Pool B match will be telecasted live on Sports18 1 and Sports18 1 HD TV channels in India.
The IND vs ITA women's Hockey Pool B match can be live-streamed on JioCinema app and website.
Goalkeepers: Savita Punia (captain), Bichu Devi Kharibam
Defenders: Nikki Pradhan ((vice-captain), Udita, Ishika Chaudhary, Monika
Midfielders: Nisha, Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke, Neha, Navneet Kaur, Salima Tete, Sonika, Jyoti, Beauty Dungdung
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