Hockey India name 28-member Jr. women's core group

New Delhi :  Hockey India today named a 28-member core group for the junior women’s national camp, which will begin on September 3 in Bhopal to prepare the team for the Australian Hockey League. The core group will be trained by Baljeet Singh Saini, the coach of junior women’s squad during the 20-day camp. The players will report to the camp at Sports Authority of India, Bhopal.

The players were picked after an intense selection trials conducted under the watchful eyes of David John, Director High Performance, Hockey India. The group has seven defenders, nine mid-fielders and as many forwards apart from three goalkeepers.

“This group of talented players were selected based on their performance in the 7th Hockey India National Hockey Championship 2017 (Women). The Group was further assessed during the previous national camp in SAI, Bengaluru where the group was selected basis their speed, agility, skill and basic understanding of the game,” a Hockey India release stated.

While the vision is to qualify for the prestigious 2020 Junior Women’s World Cup, the upcoming camp will train for the forthcoming Australian Hockey League which will see a combination of senior and junior players represent the Indian team, the release added further.

“This core group will be put through a 20-day camp before we finalise the team for the Australian Hockey League (AHL) which saw participation from the Indian junior men’s team last year. This year we will have India A team for women too taking part in the AHL and I believe it will be great exposure for the young players to compete against teams such as Victoria and New South Wales in the early rounds,” Saini said.

“The team will be a combination of newcomers and players with international exposure who are Under-23 years of age.”

Core Group:

Goalkeepers: Divya Thepe, Bichu Devi Kharibam, Kushboo.

Defenders: Neelu Dadiya, Ashmita Barla, Priyanka, Suman devi Thoudam, Salima Tete, Ritu, Manisha Chauhan.

Midfielders: Udita, Ishika Choudhary, Mahima Choudhary, Gagandeep Kaur, Nilanjali Rai, Mariana Kujur, Baljeet Kaur, Reet and Sadhna Senger.

Forwards: Preeti Dubey, Sangita Kumari, Jyoti, Navpreet Kaur, Mumtaz Khan, Karishma Singh, Deepika Soreng, Amrinder Kaur and Lalrindinki.