It’s been two weeks since the Indian women’s hockey team’s Olympic dreams ended in Ranchi but the side is already planning for the next challenge at the FIH Pro League beginning here on Saturday. And despite brave words from coach Janneke Schopman about looking forward, it won’t be easy.
The two-leg mini tournament, across Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, will see India take on China in its opening game, followed by Netherlands, Australia, and USA. Barring the host, all the teams have qualified for Paris, but that won’t make it any less challenging.
Of its four opponents, India has a better record against only China, including their last meeting at the Asian Champions Trophy but China won the one that really mattered – at the Asian Games. The Dutch and the Aussies have a massively one-sided track record but they haven’t played India in an official competition since 2022. India has won only two games against each of them ever, in 11 and 14 matches respectively, as per FIH records – which only acts as a reminder of why the Tokyo Olympics victory against Australia was such a big deal.
