Indian Junior Women’s Hockey Team leaves for Junior Asia Cup 2023 in Japan

 The team led by Preeti and Vice Captained by Deepika left for Kakamigahara, Japan on Sunday morning

Khel Today Bureau 

Bengaluru: The Indian Junior Women’s Hockey Team left for the prestigious Women’s Junior Asia Cup 2023 from Kempegowda International Airport on Sunday morning. The Junior Asia Cup which is a qualifying event for the FIH Junior World Cup is scheduled to begin from 2nd June in Kakamigahara, Japan.

The Indian Junior Women team will be up against Korea, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan in Pool A during the group stage while Pool B consists of hosts Japan, China, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong China and Indonesia. The Women’s Junior Asia Cup 2023 is a crucial event for the Indian Junior Women’s Hockey Team as the top three nations from the tournament will qualify to the FIH Junior Women’s Hockey World Cup 2023.

India’s campaign will be spearheaded by Captain Preeti along with Vice Captain Deepika and the squad also features players who have had the experience of playing with the Senior side. “We are very confident of our campaign. We have a good, experienced team. We have worked hard over the past few months and the team is quite excited and eager to do our best in Japan,” expressed Preeti.

India will begin their campaign against Uzbekistan on 3rd June followed by a match against Malaysia on 5th June. They will take on Korea on 6th June followed by a match against Chinese Taipei. The Semis will be held on 10th June while the Final will be played on 11th June.

“We have been fortunate to gain some experience playing against the Senior side as we trained in the same campus. Our team has also been in campus together for a while so there is a good team bonding and we know our strengths and weaknesses,” explained Vice Captain Deepika ahead of the team’s departure.

The Junior side will be looking to take one-match-at-a-time and aims to finish on the podium. “Typically, in this tournament, India has always done well and we look forward keeping that trend going. Our first aim will be to finish on top in the group stage and then take it one match at a time in the knockout stage,” added Deepika.

On 3rd June, India will take on Uzbekistan in their first Pool A match at 1030 hrs IST.

Matches will be live on watch.hockey.