Australia's Fergus Kavanagh to conduct camp for India women's hockey team ahead of Olympic qualifiers

New Delhi: Two-time World Cup winner Fergus Kavanagh of Australia will conduct a special seven-day defenders camp for the senior Indian women’s hockey team in Bengaluru. Kavanagh, who arrived in Bengaluru on 7 July to work with the Indian men’s team, will now pass on his tips and experiences to the women’s side during the special camp, starting Monday. [caption id=“attachment_6880291” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The camp is a part of the team’s preparation for the all-important Olympic Qualifiers. Image courtesy: Twitter @TheHockeyIndia[/caption] Kavanagh will work with 14 women defenders during the camp, which will conclude on 21 July. The camp is a part of the team’s preparation for the all-important Olympic Qualifiers to be held later this year. The players identified by Hockey India who will be part of the camp are Salima Tete, Deep Grace Ekka, Lilima Minz, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Suman Devi Thoudam, Mahima Choudhary, Nisha, Gurjit Kaur, Rashmita Minz, Sunita Lakra, Manpreet Kaur, Nikki Pradhan, Karishma Yadav and Monika. Kavanagh was part of the Australian dream team that won the 2010 World Cup in New Delhi and the 2014 World Cup in The Hague, Netherlands. He was also a member of the Kookaburras’ gold medal winning sides at consecutive FIH Champions Trophy from 2008 to 2012 besides the 2014 Champions Trophy in Bhubaneswar. “We had a great tournament at the FIH Women’s Series, but we still have to improve in a certain areas. We are looking forward to fine-tune our defensive game with Fergus (Kavanagh) ahead of the Olympics Test event in August. His experience in coaching will surely help our defenders get better,” India chief coach Sjoerd Marijne said. “A good defensive unit can help the team create more attacking opportunities and subsequently help the side create more scoring opportunities. Therefore, it is imperative for our defenders to be on top of their game in big events such as the Olympics Test event and Olympic Qualifiers in October-November.