Savita named captain of Indian women hockey team for Asia Cup in Muscat

Since
regular
skipper
Rani
Rampal
is
recovering
from
an
injury
in
Bengaluru,
Savita
will
lead
the
side
in
the
tournament,
which
is
scheduled
to
be
held
between
January
21-28
at
the
Sultan
Qaboos
Sports
Complex.

India
have
been
placed
in
Pool
A
along
with
Japan,
Malaysia
and
Singapore.
They
will
open
their
title
defence
against
Malaysia
on
the
opening
day.
They
will
next
take
on
Japan
(Jan
23)
and
Singapore
(Jan
24).

The
semifinals
will
be
played
on
January
26
and
the
final
on
January
28.
The
top
four-teams
will
qualify
for
the
2022
World
Cup,
to
be
held
in
Spain
and
Netherlands.

Experienced
defender
Deep
Grace
Ekka
will
be
Savita’s
deputy.
The
team
includes
goalkeeper
Rajani
Etimarpu
and
defenders
Gurjit
Kaur,
Nikki
Pradhan,
and
Udita.

The
midfield
includes
Nisha,
Sushila
Chanu
Pukhrambam,
Monika,
Neha,
Salima
Tete,
Jyoti
and
Navjot
Kaur
while
the
forwardline
will
see
Navneet
Kaur,
Lalremsiami,
Vandana
Katariya,
Mariana
Kujur
and
Sharmila
Devi.

The
team
also
has
Deepika
(Junior)
and
Ishika
Chaudhary
as
replacement
athletes.

“This
is
a
very
important
tournament
for
us
and
I
am
happy
with
the
team
we
have
chosen
which
is
a
mix
of
some
very
experienced
players
along
with
talented
youngsters
who
have
shown
great
potential
at
the
international
level,”
chief
coach
Janneke
Schopman
said.

“Though
we
were
a
bit
disappointed
with
how
things
panned
out
for
us
at
the
Asian
Champions
Trophy,
we
were
able
to
return
to
camp
in
SAI,
Bengaluru
and
put
in
some
good
sessions
of
hockey
to
prepare
well
for
this
challenge.”

In
the
previous
edition
held
in
2017,
India
beat
China
5-4
in
a
tense
shootout
to
lift
the
title.

Indian
women’s
team
for
Asia
Cup

Goalkeepers:
Savita
(captain),
Rajani
Etimarpu.

Defenders:
Deep
Grace
Ekka
(vice-captain),
Gurjit
Kaur,
Nikki
Pradhan,
Udita.

Midfielders:
Nisha,
Sushila
Chanu,
Monika,
Neha,
Salima
Tete,
Jyoti,
Navjot
Kaur.

Forwards:
Navneet
Kaur,
Lalremsiami,
Vandana
Katariya,
Mariana
Kujur,
Sharmila
Devi.