Doing well against Korea will be vital for FIH Women's Series Finals, asserts Rani Rampal
Hockey India
Indian women’s hockey team skipper Rani Rampal has stated that the tour to Korea will be crucial for the national side ahead of their FIH Women's Series Finals matches in Hiroshima in June. The Indian women will start the three-match series against the Republic of Korea from Monday in Jinchun.
The Indian women’s team is in Korea for the three-match bilateral series as a part of their preparations for the FIH Women's Series Finals which is also a qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The matches will be played in Jinchun from tomorrow. Rani is back in the team after recovering well from her shoulder injury and goalkeeper Savita is her deputy.
Rani is of the opinion that the matches will be tough as Korea is in good form off late but at the same time the team will have a good preparation before the crucial tournament in Japan’s Hiroshima next month.
"The team backed by some good results in the previous tournaments is confident about playing against a tough team like the Republic Of Korea in conditions best suited for them. The Series will be very challenging given how the Korean National Team has been playing lately. Doing well against them will be vital in our preparations for the FIH Women's Series Finals Hiroshima 2019," Rani was quoted as saying by Hockey India.
The Indian team had started off the year on a high after registering two wins and three draws in the tour to Spain in January-February, where they were up against Spain and Ireland. In a bilateral series against Malaysia last month, the Indian women won four games and drew one which indicates their good form ahead of the tour to Korea.
Apart from skipper Rani, Gurjit Kaur is also making a comeback after recovering from an injury. Rani believes that playing high-intensity matches will put them in proper rhythm before the FIH tournament in Japan.
"This will be an important Series for myself and Gurjit because we are coming back after rehabilitation. Playing high-intensity matches will put us in the right rhythm before we set off for the FIH Women's Series Finals Hiroshima 2019.Â
“There have been some different things we have tried in this recent National Camp in terms of creating variations inside the circle. We will get to try and test these methods against this strong team and basis how we execute these changes we can plan better for the next big tournament," the Indian captain signed off.
