Hockey India names 18-member women’s team for Republic of Korea tour

New Delhi: Hockey India has named an 18-member women’s team for the Republic of Korea tour, which will begin on May 20 at Jinchun. The team will be led by Forward Rani and vice-Captained by goalkeeper Savita.

The team had toured Spain earlier this year where they played bilateral series against the host nation. The team also went on their Malaysia Tour in April 2019 which saw them remain unbeaten against the Malaysian Women’s Hockey team as they won four matches and drew one.

The matches in Korea have been scheduled to allow the Indian team to prepare for the FIH Women’s Series Finals Hiroshima 2019.

“I am happy with the return of experienced players like Rani and Gurjit Kaur in the squad and pleased that they are fully fit to play these matches. This tour will give us the chance to take a good final step against a strong opponent in our preparation for the FIH Women’s Series Finals Hiroshima 2019,” chief coach of the Indian team, Sjoerd Marijne said in an official statement on Friday.

“We have identified areas in our game that needed improvement from our past two tours this year, and have worked on them in training, and it is now time to show the improvement in the matches,” he added.

Indian 18-member squad:

Goalkeepers: Savita (vc), Rajani Etimarpu.

Defenders: Salima Tete, Sunita Lakra, Deep Grace Ekka, Karishma Yadav, Gurjit Kaur, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam.
Midfielders: Monika, Navjot Kaur, Nikki Pradhan, Neha Goyal, Lilima Minz.

Forwards: Rani (Captain), Vandana Katariya, Lalremsiami, Jyoti, Navneet Kaur.

[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]