Four from Odisha in Indian Junior Women’s Hockey team for matches against France

Bhubaneswar: Four players from Odisha have been selected to the 20-member Indian Junior Women’s Hockey Team for the upcoming matches against France scheduled from Feb 8 to 13.

They included Mariana Kujur, Ajmina Kujur, Philicia Toppo and Jiwan Kishori Toppo.

Hockey India on Wednesday announced the list of the players selected to the team for the competition in Lucknow and Gorakhpur of Uttar Pradesh.

While Mariana Kujur will play as the midfielder, Ajmina Kujur and Jiwan Kishori Toppo will have clash with the French team as the forwards and Philicia Toppo has been named in the list of defenders.

The Indian Women’s team will be playing a total of four Matches against the French Women’s National Team, the first two of which take place on 8th and 9th February 2019 respectively at the Padma Shri Mohammad Shahid Synthetic Hockey Stadium in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, while the third Match is scheduled to be held on 11th February 2019 at the Veer Bahadur Singh Sports College, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, said Hockey India in a release yesterday.

The fourth and final match which will be played on 13th February 2019.

“The upcoming matches against the French Women’s National team will be helpful for our team in gaining match-fitness and experience different match situations. We will be up against a group of players who have played together for a considerably long time, and I feel our team’s combination for the Matches is such that it will give all the players an opportunity to contribute with their efforts on the field. Our players will get a much-needed exposure and this challenge will help us in developing these players for bigger challenges that the team is going to face in the future including the 8th Women’s Junior Asia Cup,” stated Coach Baljeet Singh.

The Indian Junior Women’s team will play their opening match against France at 5.00 pm at the Padma Shri Mohammad Shahid Synthetic Hockey Stadium in Lucknow on Feb 8.

Here’s the list of the Indian squad

Goalkeepers: Bichu Devi Kharibam, Khushboo

Defenders: Philicia Toppo, Gagandeep Kaur, Salima Tete, Priyanka, Suman Devi Thoudam, Ishika Chaudhary

Midfielders: Mahima Choudhary, Prabhleen Kaur, Mariana Kujur, Reet, Baljeet Kaur, Preeti

Forwards: Lalremsiami, Sharmila Devi, Mumtaz Khan, Jiwan Kishori Toppo, Ajmina Kujur, Jyoti