Hockey India names 25 Core Probables for Senior Women National Camp

New Delhi, 15 February : Hockey India on Saturday named the 25-member Core Probables list for the upcoming Senior Women National Camp to begin on 16 February at the Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru Campus.

The players will report to Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne for the 27-day Training and Conditioning Camp ahead of an important few months where the team will also take part in the 6th Women’s Asian Champions Trophy in June and the all-important Tokyo Olympics in July-August.

Last year was a fruitful year for India, which saw them produce some outstanding performances across tournaments, winning the FIH Women’s Series Finals Hiroshima , Tokyo Olympic Test Event in Japan, and the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers Odisha, along with victories in their tours of Spain, Malaysia, Republic of Korea and England.

With their eyes set on the big tournaments in 2020, the Indian Women’s Hockey 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 Great Britain.

The Training and Conditioning Camp will be focused around fitness, ball-handling, structure and strategies, along with working on key areas which were identified from their recent tour of New Zealand.

Speaking ahead of the National Coaching Camp, Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne said, “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. 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 Core Probables group includes Goalkeepers Savita, Rajani Etimarpu, Bichu Devi Kharibam, Defenders Deep Grace Ekka, Reena Khokhar, Salima Tete, Manpreet Kaur, Gurjit Kaur, and Nisha.

Among Midfielders, Nikki Pradhan, Monika, Neha Goyal, Lilima Minz, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Sonika and Namita Toppo have received a call-up.

Forwards Rani, Lalremsiami, Vandana Katariya, Navjot Kaur, Navneet Kaur, Rajwinder Kaur, Jyoti, Sharmila Devi and Udita have made the National Camp.