Rani says home support will be huge boost for Indian team in FIH Olympics qualifier

Bhubaneswar, October 19 

Indian women's hockey team captain Rani said on Saturday that consistency in selection has helped her team members in understanding each other better ahead of the Olympic Qualifiers.

She said that home support will be a huge boost for them when they compete in the upcoming FIH Olympic Qualifiers. An 18-member women's team was announced here on Friday by chief coach Sjoerd Marijne, which saw the Dutchman retain the players who represented India in their preparatory tour of England earlier this month.

“We have a group of players who have played together for a good period of time, and that obviously helps in building a good understanding between all the team members. "We know each other in and out, and all of us understand each other both on and off the field, so I believe it has also helped us a lot. We are now preparing to be at our best when we take on USA in the Qualifiers here,” said Rani. Looking back at her experience of representing the national team in front of home support, Rani said the support in the city will be a huge boost for her side.

“Some members from this team have played in India before but that was way back in the FIH World League Round 2 in 2013, but the crowd that comes out to watch hockey in Bhubaneswar is nothing like that. “We know we will be cheered on from the first minute of the match, and we are all looking forward to playing at home. It is a good moment in your life when you play such a huge match in front of your home crowd, and the team is looking forward to producing a great performance and enjoying it on the field,” she said.

Rani said there is pressure, but her team members have huge belief in themselves, and are focusing on doing the basics right in both the matches.  

“We all know how important these matches are, but we cannot let them get to us. We have played in huge matches before and we now have the experience of coping up with the pressure.—PTI 

Squads 

Men: Manpreet Singh (C), PR Sreejesh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Surender Kumar, Gurinder Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Amit Rohidas, Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, S.V. Sunil, Mandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Simranjeet Singh.

Women: Rani Rampal (C), Savita, Rajani Etimarpu, Deep Grace Ekka, Gurjit Kaur, Reena Khokhar, Salima Tete, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Nikki Pradhan, Monika, Neha Goyal, Lilima Minz, Namita Toppo, Vandana Katariya, Navneet Kaur, Lalremsiami, Navjot Kaur and Sharmila Devi.