~The tournament is scheduled to take place from 29th November to 10th December~
Mumbai, 22nd November 2023: The Indian Junior Women’s Hockey Team commenced their FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup 2023 journey today as they left for Santiago, Chile. The FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup 2023 is scheduled to take place from 29th November to 10th December. Notably, India finished in 4th place in the 2022 edition of the tournament.
India is placed in Pool C alongside 2022 runners-up Germany as well as Belgium and Canada while defending Champions the Netherlands find themselves in Pool A accompanied by South Africa, Australia and hosts Chile. Argentina, Korea, Spain and Zimbabwe are slotted in Pool B while England, New Zealand, the United States and Japan are a part of Pool D.
With Captain Preeti leading the charge and Rutuja Dadaso Pisal playing deputy, India will look to finish in the top two of Pool C to ensure a place in the Quarter-Finals. India will kick-start their campaign against Canada on the 29th of November followed by a contest against Germany on the 30th November. After a rest day, India will take on Belgium on 2nd December in their final league stage match of Pool C.
“It is truly an honour to represent the country on the world stage. I take great pride in being able to lead such a talented bunch of players in the Women’s Junior World Cup to show the world what Indian hockey is made of. We have had a terrific preparatory camp where each and every one of us has developed a sense of clarity in understanding what their role in the team is in order to take us all the way to winning the tournament,” said Captain Preeti before leaving India.
Vice-Captain Rutuja Dadaso Pisal echoed her captain’s thoughts saying, “We have an amazing set of players who bring a variety of skills to the table. This is a huge opportunity for us to showcase our abilities as a team on a massive platform and prove to the world that India is one of the best. As the vice-captain of this team, I will do my best to assist Preeti in every way possible to ensure that we as a team give ourselves the best chance of winning the Women’s Junior World Cup.”
The Indian Junior Women’s Hockey team will begin their quest to win the Women’s Junior World Cup on 29th November against Canada at 2330hrs IST.
By Hockey India
