After more than two years, the Indian women's hockey team is set to play their first game at Kalinga Stadium when they face off against Spain in FIH Pro League in Bhubaneswar on Saturday.
The last time they played here they beat the US and booked their place at Tokyo Olympics. It was the start of a memorable journey which, even though ended in disappointment, saw the team reach new heights. Post the Olympics, the women's team hasn't seen too much success, although they did qualify for World Cup, to be held later this year.
After that they began their maiden Pro League campaign on a high when they beat China in a double header with ease and will now look to put on another good show against the world No. 7 team, who were knocked out from the quarterfinals at Tokyo Olympics by Great Britain.
The team ranked ninth in the world has been training hard for the same in Bhubaneswar under their new coach Janneke Schopman, who loves attacking play and has been pushing the players to their limits in the practice sessions.
The team will be without their talismanic skipper Rani Rampal and will be led by Savita instead. Speaking ahead of the match the experienced goalkeeper sounded pleased with the team's preparation and is looking to play to their strengths.
"We want to play attacking hockey and defend the penalty corners well just like every other match," Savita said during a virtual press conference on Thursday.
Present at the press conference, Deep Grace Ekka said she is hoping to improve as a drag-flicker and make it more difficult for the opponent defenders. "When there's one PC specialist, it's easy for the opponent to defend but when there're two-three drag-flickers it becomes difficult for them to guess," said the seasoned defender.
While India have prepared well, it will be a tough game against a team that won bronze at the last World Cup in London in 2018. Moreover, the Spanish team is high on confidence after good performances against the Netherlands, the current Olympic and the World Champions, in their last Pro League matches.
