FIH Hockey Pro League: Indian women prepped to take on Australia, USA

Rourkela, Feb 16 (IANS) The Indian Women’s Hockey Team will play their final two games of the Rourkela leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023-24 on February 17 and 18 when they take on Australia and the United States of America respectively at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, Rourkela.

India has had a tough outing so far at the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24, having lost four of their five matches. After suffering a 1-2 defeat in their first match against China, India went on to lose 1-3 to the Netherlands and 0-3 to Australia before beating the United States 3-1 in their final match of the Bhubaneswar leg.

In their first match of the Rourkela leg, India took the lead early in the game but China came back strongly to win the game 2-1. India then went on to lose 0-1 to the Netherlands.

Speaking ahead of the clash with Australia, captain Savita Punia said: "We lost the last encounter against Australia but we are focused on securing the win this time and we will give our one hundred percent. Australia plays a similar style to us, they are exceptional at transferring their balls and their finishing is top notch but we will aim to nullify this and win our one-on-one battles. We are as good as any team playing this tournament so we will give it our all when we step out on the field as these are crucial matches for us."

Australia have had more favourable results in the recent past against India including the 3-0 win in the Bhubaneswar leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24 earlier this month but the Indian Women will look to replicate their 1-0 win over Australia in the 2020 Olympics quarter-final when they take them on at Rourkela on Saturday.

On the other hand, the Indian women has beaten the USA on four out of the last six occasions the two teams have faced including the 3-1 victory on February 9 during the Bhubaneswar leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24.

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