FIH Olympic Qualifiers | Hockey India names 18-member women’s squad; Rani Rampal to continue as captain
Rani Rampal will continue as the skipper of the 18-mmber Indian women’s hockey team which will take on the USA in the two FIH Olympic Qualifier matches at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar next month. Goalkeeper Savita Punia will be the vice-captain of the Sjoerd Marijne-coached unit.
The Indian Women's Hockey team remained unchanged from their Tour of England. Experienced Goalkeepers Savita and Rajani Etimarpu will guard the goal, while drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur, Deep Grace Ekka, Reena Khokhar, Salima Tete, Namita Toppo, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Nikki Pradhan, Monika, Neha Goyal, Lilima Minz, Captain Rani, Vandana Katariya, Navneet Kaur, Lalremsiami, Navjot Kaur and Sharmila Devi will serve as the outfield players.
The winners of the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers Odisha will qualify for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The winners will be determined as follows: teams will be ranked according to the number of points each has accumulated in both matches (for each match, 3 points are awarded to the winner, 1 point to each team in the event of a draw and 0 point to the loser).
If there is equality among the two teams, then the teams will be ranked according to their respective goal difference. If the equality remains, a shoot-out competition will be played to establish the winner. Therefore, the objective of both the Indian Men's and Indian Women's Hockey Teams will be to secure direct qualification for the Tokyo 2020 hockey tournaments - which will be staged in Japan’s capital city from 25 July to 7 August next year and involve 12 Men’s and 12 Women’s teams.
Indian Women's Hockey Team:
Savita (Vice-Captain), Rajani Etimarpu, Deep Grace Ekka, Gurjit Kaur, Reena Khokhar, Salima Tete, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Nikki Pradhan, Monika, Neha Goyal, Lilima Minz, Namita Toppo, Rani (Captain), Vandana Katariya, Navneet Kaur, Lalremsiami, Navjot Kaur and Sharmila Devi.