Six Odisha Women Players In Hockey Camp Before Season Opener In Spain

New Delhi: Six women hockey players from Odisha have been selected in the 33-member core probable list for the National Camp to commence at the Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru, from January 4.

The six players selected are Rashmita Minz, Deep Grace Ekka, Sunita Lakra, Lilima Minz, Namita Toppo and Anupa Barla. The team will prepare for season opener in Spain scheduled to start on January 24.

Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne will guide the team during the camp, which will conclude on January 23.

Hockey India has also named young players Salima Tete and Lalremsiami, who were a part of the Youth Olympic Games in Buesnos Aires in 2018, where they had won a silver medal, for the camp.

Goalkeepers Savita, Rajani Etimarpu and Sonal Minj have been called in while defenders Deep Grace Ekka, Sunita Lakra, Sushila Chanu Phukhrambam, Gurjit Kaur, Rashmita Minz, Suman Devi Thoudam, Mahima Choudhary, Nisha Salima Tete have been included.

Midfielders Nikki Pradhan, Monika, Lilima Minz, Namita Toppo, Neha Goyal, Udita, Jyoti, Anuja Singh, Shyama Tidgam, Sonika, Sonika, Karishma Yadav and forwards Rani, Lalremsiami, Navneet Kaur, Navjot Kaur, Rajwinder Kaur, Vandana Katariya, Anupa Barla, Priyanka Wankhede, Reena Khokhar and Leelavathy Mallamada Jaya have been included in the camp ahead of the team’s tour to Spain.

Indian Women’s Hockey Team Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne said they will be working on getting to the right fitness level. “This will be a short 20-day camp. We want to train them in some new things to be implemented in our game,” said Marijne.

The Indian team jumped up to 9th place in World Ranking in 2018 and had also brought home silver medals from the Asian Champions Trophy and 18th Asian Games Jakarta- Palembang.