Tokyo Olympics 2020: Hockey India name 22 players for senior women's national camp ahead of qualifiers against USA

New Delhi: Hockey India on Saturday named 22 players for the senior women’s national camp to begin at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar from 14 October ahead of next month’s crucial FIH Olympic Qualifiers.

The camp will focus on preparing the team for the two-match FIH Olympic Qualifiers against the USA to be held on 1-2 November.

The best of the two matches will determine the team that will qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In their recent tour of England, the Indian women’s team led by Rani Rampal won their first match against Great Britain 2-1, while drew three matches (1-1, 0-0, 2-2) before losing 1-3 to the home team.

“It was a good tour because we got to play a strong team like Great Britain and we did well against the pressure Great Britain created in each of the matches. The one week break I believe will give the players enough time to recover mentally and physically,” said Indian women’s team chief coach Sjoerd Marijne.

“There is a lot of excitement among the players to compete in Bhubaneswar which has truly become a hockey destination for world events. During the camp, it is important for the team to get used to the pitch and we are also looking at playing practice matches amongst ourselves,” he added.

India Squad: Savita, Rajini Etimarpu, Deep Grace Ekka, Reena Khokhar, Salima Tete, Gurjit Kaur, Udita, Nikki Pradhan, Nisha, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Monika, Lilima Minz, Neha Goyal, Namita Toppo, Sonika, Rani, Navneet Kaur, Lalremsiami, Navjot Kaur, Sharmila Devi, Jyoti, Vandana Katariya.