Indian women’s hockey team to clash with South Africa and the Netherlands on exposure tour

Indian women’s hockey team captain Savita Punia. File
| Photo Credit: Biswaranjan Rout

The Indian women’s hockey team will travel to South Africa for a seven-match exposure tour, which will also include three games against world number one the Netherlands, from January 16.

The Savita Punia-led side will play four matches against hosts South Africa in Cape Town before locking horns with the Dutch side in three matches from January 23.

“We are grateful to Hockey India for planning good amount of exposure matches for us in the annual calendar, particularly in a year where we are focused on preparing well for the Asian Games and earning direct qualification for the Paris Olympics,” Savita said.

The Indian captain feels the tour will help the side identify the grey areas and work upon those ahead of this year’s Asian Games.

“These matches against South Africa and the world no.1 side Netherlands will help us raise the level of our game and also at the same time identify the areas we are lacking in. We are well-prepared for this tour following a good two-week camp in Bengaluru.

“The players are high on confidence after a good year of hockey in 2022 and we are looking forward to start the season on a good note,” said Savita, who led the team to a historic bronze medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.