Goalkeeper Savita to lead 18-member Indian Team at Women's Hockey Asia Cup in Muscat, Oman

New Delhi, January 12, 2022

Ace goalkeeper Savita will lead the 18-member India team at the Women's Hockey Asia Cup to be held from January 21 to 28 at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat, Oman.

Savita has been named skipper in the absence of Rani Rampaul, who is undergoing rehabilitation in Bengaluru, while seasoned defender Deep Grace Ekka is the vice-captain of the team which includes 16 players who represented the country at the Tokyo Olympics.

"This is a very important tournament for us and I am happy with the team we have chosen which is a mix of some very experienced players along with talented youngsters who have shown great potential at the international level," Chief Coach Janneke Schopman.

"Though we were a bit disappointed with how things panned out for us at the Asian Champions Trophy, we were able to return to camp in SAI, Bengaluru and put in some good sessions of hockey to prepare well for this challenge," he added.

India, the defending champions, will battle it out against China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand to retain the title.

The top four from this tournament will qualify for the 2022 FIH Women's Hockey World Cup to be held in Spain and the Netherlands.

The defending champions are grouped in pool A along with Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. They will begin their campaign on opening day against Malaysia on January 21 and will play Japan on January 23. India will take on Singapore in their last pool A match on January 24.

The semi-finals will be played on January 26 and the final on January 28.

In the previous edition held in 2017, India beat China 5-4 in a tense shootout to lift the title.

The team:

Goalkeepers: Savita (c ), Rajani Etimarpu

Defenders: Deep Grace Ekka, Gurjit Kaur, Nikki Pradhan, and Udita

Midfielders: Nisha, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Monika, Neha, Salima Tete, Jyoti and Navjot Kaur

Forwards: Navneet Kaur, Lalremsiami, Vandana Katariya, Mariana Kujur and Sharmila Devi.

Deepika (Junior) and Ishika Chaudhary are the two Replacement Athletes for the event.

NNN