The upcoming Australian tour will be a key tour for the Indian women's hockey team as the Asian Games 2022 are coming ahead.
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The Indian women’s hockey team will play a five-match series in Australia from May 18 to May 27, 2023. The competitions, which will be held in Adelaide’s MATE Stadium, will serve as a warm-up for the next Hangzhou Asian Games 2022, which will take place from September 23 to October 8, later this year. Australia is now rated third, while India is tenth in worldwide rankings. The series will consist of three matches against Australia’s national squad and two games versus Australia A. The first match is scheduled for May 18, followed by two more on May 20 and 21. India will then play Australia A on May 25 and 27.
Janneke Schopman, the head coach of the Indian Women’s Hockey Team, expressed her thoughts on the upcoming tour and emphasized its strategic importance. She said, “Competing against Australia on their home turf will enable us to gauge our performance against the best in women’s hockey. The series is vital for our Asian Games preparations, as it will provide the ideal exposure and help us identify areas for improvement and adjustment.” Schopman, who is a former defender for the Dutch club HC Den Bosch and the Netherlands national team, has been India’s coach after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Previously, he also coached the Dutch club SCHC’s women’s team, the U21 US Women’s National Team, and the US Women’s National Team.
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After defeating Spain at the FIH Women’s Nations Cup in December 2022 on their home soil, the Indian Women’s Hockey Team will enter the Australian trip with a lot of confidence. Additionally, on their trip to South Africa in January 2023, India displayed their talent by defeating the hosts in three of the four games they played, with the fourth game finishing in a draw. However, India’s final three matches of the same tour resulted in a 1-3 loss against the Dutch side.
At the Tokyo Olympics 2020 held in 2021, the Indian women’s hockey team created Olympic history when they defeated three-time Olympic gold medalists Australia in the quarterfinals with a 1-0 victory. In the 2022 Commonwealth Games semi final in Birmingham, India also showed tenacity by holding Australia to a 1-1 tie at the conclusion of regulation timing. However, Australia prevailed in the penalty shootout, earning a 3-0 victory and a place in the final match.
As the Indian Women’s Hockey Team prepares for their tour against Australia, they are currently attending a senior women’s national coaching camp at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) facility in Bengaluru. The upcoming Australian tour will be a key tour for the Indian women’s hockey team as the Asian Games 2022 are coming ahead. India’s best performance in the history of the games was in the inaugural edition when they won the gold medal in the 1982 New Delhi games. Since then, the women’s team have won two silver, and three bronze medals but not attained the top of the podium.
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