Women’s Asian Champions Trophy hockey: Indian team captain Salima Tete confident of starting new Olympic cycle on winning note

Hyderabad: The Indian women’s hockey team captain Salima Tete and vice-captain Navneet Kaur were bullish on India’s preparations to defend their Women’s Asian Champions Trophy title.

India enter the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy, scheduled to be played from November 11 to 20 at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium in Rajgir, Bihar, as the defending champions and the team will be up against top Asian teams China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand.

The team had undergone an intense training session at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Bengaluru and captain Tete said the team is in a good shape ahead of the marquee tournament, the first in the new Olympic cycle. “We had a memorable outing in Ranchi where we clinched the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy title. We know our fans have even higher expectations this time, and we’re ready to take on the challenge to defend the title. We have gone about some intense training sessions at the SAI Centre in Bengaluru. We are prepared for the tournament and are looking forward to some thrilling days of hockey in Bihar,” Tete told Hockey India.

Tete said the Indian team played an exhibition match at the new stadium in Rajgir and received a good response from the crowd and the captain added that it is a huge motivation to do well. “The anticipation and excitement for the Asian Champions Trophy is in equal measure as we will be playing at a new venue, in the beautiful town of Rajgir. We played an exhibition match here in August and received a great response from the crowd. We’re looking forward to returning to Rajgir and playing our best hockey,” she said.

The Indian team’s vice-captain Navneet Kaur concurred with the captain and said the fans in Rajgir have a good opportunity to see top-class hockey from close quarters. “We were in Rajgir in August and received a warm reception from the crowd. Now, they’ll (the fans) have the opportunity to witness top Asian teams play right in their town. Bihar is also the birthplace of our cChief coach, Harendra sir, so this makes it an even more special occasion. We’re looking forward to putting on a great show for the people of Rajgir and Bihar,” Kaur exclaimed.

Kaur said the team is focussed on the goal and added that the team is motivated to start the new Olympic cycle on a winning note. “The excitement aside, we are focused on our goal. We are in the new Olympic cycle, we start afresh and we have to improve and grow step by step to achieve our ultimate goals,” the vice-captain concluded.