Ranchi, Jan 12 (IANS) Soorma Hockey Club will begin their journey in the much awaited Women’s Hockey India League at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Astroturf Stadium in Ranchi on Monday. Their first match will be against the Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers, a team that looks very strong on paper.
Soorma also have a formidable squad with Indian stalwart Savita taking charge in goal as co-captain with the agile midfielder Salima Tete. They have also secured the services of international stars like Maria Verschoor, Charlotte Stapenhorst, Charlotte Englebert and Penny Squibb.
“We began the camp in Chandigarh on December 27 with Indian players and the overseas players joined us on January 2. It has been good in the build-up phase for us, the camp helped us prepare the team and the players have built their connections over the last two weeks. It is great for athletes to share a dressing room with the best players in the world, it will be a great opportunity especially for the young Indian players to rub shoulders with them and learn from them,” head coach Jude Menezes commented.
“We got to Ranchi a couple of days ago, have had a training session before our first game and we look forward to getting into it. The focus in the first match against Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers will be on ourselves, we will aim to do what we do well and everything will look after itself and as we get more intel on how teams play, we will look at it in greater depth,” he added.
Savita, the former Indian women’s team captain, has been waiting eagerly for the HIL to begin for the women as well and she expressed her joy saying, “We are very excited, being a senior player I have waited quite a lot for a Women’s HIL. When the men’s league began, we saw a significant positive change in their attitude and mindset and they always mentioned HIL contributed to this. It helped with their development and also helped unearth some good young talents. So, we always thought if we could train with some players from the best hockey teams in the world, like the Netherlands, we can observe their involvement in training and matches, their off-the-field behavior.”
“India has a lot of talent, and the HIL is the best platform to develop it and help players financially, it will show Indian parents that the sport has a future. A lot of good things to look forward to from this league,” she added.
Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers have an impressive squad with Udita, the costliest player in the league, serving as their captain. They also have the immensely experienced forward Vandana Katariya leading their forward line. Grace O’Hanlon, Jennifer Rizzo, Grace Stewart, Roisin Upton and Kathryn Mullan are some of their notable international stars along with young players like Hannah Cotter, Fiona Crackles, Beauty Dung Dung and Jyothi Edula.
“There is no stress, we believe in our team and we have discussed that our aim is to have a good performance and enjoy on the field. There are some young Indian players and foreigners in the Shrachi Rarh Bengal Warriors team that we do not know about so it will be slightly difficult as we don’t know what to expect from them but we have complete confidence in our training and performance to help us get a good start to the league,” Savita concluded.
–IANS
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