Indian women's hockey team sets sights on Nations Cup 2022

The FIH Women's Nations Cup's first edition will start on 10th December 2022.

The Indian women's hockey team, after winning the bronze medal at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games 2022, have regrouped together again for the all-important FIH Women's Nations Cup. It will take place from 10th-17th December in Valencia, Spain. Indian women have begun preparations for the same in full flow at the Sports Authority of India campus in Bengaluru. The tournament will be its first-ever women's edition. India, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, South Africa and hosts Spain are the eight participating teams.

The Indian women's hockey team has had some pretty successful moments recently. The run started from the Tokyo 2022 Olympics to the impressive bronze medal finish in Birmingham. The Indian Women's hockey team claimed the bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games 2022 after a superb win over New Zealand in the shootout.

In the regulation time, Salima Tete (29') scored the goal for India, only for Olivia Merry (60') to score a late goal for New Zealand. Savita made three sensational saves in the shootout, while Sonika and Navneet Kaur struck past Kiwi goalkeeper Grace O'Hanlon as India pulled off a thrilling 2-1 shootout win. Now that Commonwealth Games are over, the focus will shift to the upcoming FIH Women's Nations Cup.

The one-week-long tournament in Spain will see the winners get promoted to the FIH Hockey Pro League (Women’s). The Indian Women’s Hockey Team finished third in their debut campaign in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2021/22 season.

"Focus is on winning Nations Cup" - Deep Grace Ekka

One of the mainstays in the Indian defence, Deep Grace Ekka hopes the team can continue to build on the momentum going ahead. Speaking on return to the national camp in Bengaluru she said, “We did well in Birmingham, but now that is a closed chapter. We have had a good break and now we have to get back to work. I am sure the Chief Coach Janneke Schopman will assess our previous performance and plan the upcoming days in camp accordingly.”

Captained by Savita currently, the Indian Women’s Hockey Team is set for a longish camp before their next outing and the experienced defender expects to be put through the hard yards ahead of their next assignment.

“We have to do well in Spain in the FIH Women’s Hockey Nations Cup, and for that, the preparation begins from today. It won’t be easy but training hard and doing the right things repeatedly during our sessions is the only thing we can do,” she explained.