Four from Odisha selected for Women’s Hockey National Camp

Bhubaneswar: As many as four players from Odisha have secured their berth in the 33-member Core Probables for Indian Women’s Hockey National Coaching Camp scheduled to begin at Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru from July 15.

The players are Deep Grace Ekka, Sunita Lakra, Rashmita Minz and Lilima Minz.

The players will report to Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne for the four-week Camp that concludes on August 11 following which the Indian team will travel to Japan for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Test Event to be played between India, Japan, Australia and China starting August 17.

Goalkeepers Savita, Rajani Etimarpu and Bichu Devi Kharibam along with Defenders Deep Grace Ekka, Reena Khokhar, Suman Devi Thoudam, Sunita Lakra, Salima Tete, Manpreet Kaur, Gurjit Kaur, Rashmita Minz, Mahima Choudhary and Nisha, have all been called-up for National Coaching Camp.

While Midfielders Nikki Pradhan, Monika, Neha Goyal, Lilima Minz, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Chetna, Reet, Anuja Singh, Karishma Yadav and Sonika will also report to camp on Monday.

Forwards Rani, Lalremsiami, Vandana Katariya, Navjot Kaur, Navneet Kaur, Rajwinder Kaur, Jyoti, Sharmila Devi, Amandeep Kaur and Priyanka Wankhede have been asked to report for the National Coaching Camp.

“We will use this upcoming National Coaching Camp to evaluate our performances at the FIH Women’s Series Finals Hiroshima 2019, and identify the areas for improvement. If you win, everything looks good, but it is important to keep a critical eye on your own performance to take the next step in the right direction. We have a few focus points where we want to improve, and the next four weeks will be utilized in making the improvements,” expressed Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.

Marijne added that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Test Event in August will be a good test for his team. He said, “Our aim is to use the matches against Australia, China, and hosts Japan to improve our own play and prepare well for the FIH Olympic Qualifiers 2019. I am very curious to see how we will play against Australia, but before that, we will be focusing on stepping up our training in the next four weeks. To play these matches, we will need good fitness, and that is something which will be important for us in the camp as well. These matches give us the chance to test a few things which we can use in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers later this year.”

Core Probables List

GOALKEEPERS

1.     Savita

2.     Rajani Etimarpu

3.     Bichu Devi Kharibam

DEFENDERS

4.     Deep Grace Ekka

5.     Reena Khokhar

6.     Suman Devi Thoudam

7.     Sunita Lakra

8.     Salima Tete

9.     Manpreet Kaur

10.  Gurjit Kaur

11.  Rashmita Minz

12.  Mahima Choudhary

13.  Nisha

MIDFIELDERS

14.  Nikki Pradhan

15.  Monika

16.  Neha Goyal

17.  Lilima Minz

18.  Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam

19.  Chetna

20.  Reet

21.  Anuja Singh

22.  Karishma Yadav

23.  Sonika

FORWARDS

24.  Rani

25.  Lalremsiami

26.  Vandana Katariya

27.  Navjot Kaur

28.  Navneet Kaur

29.  Rajwinder Kaur

30.  Jyoti

31.  Sharmila Devi

32.  Amandeep Kaur

33.  Priyanka Wankhede