Rani Rampal Says Team Aims To Play World Class Hockey Against Higher Ranked Teams

Rani Rampal, captain of the Indian women’s hockey team, has said that her team is excited about the upcoming New Zealand tour. She said that this tour will strengthen the team and will help the team to prepare well for the Tokyo Olympics.

Rani while speaking before the team’s departure for Auckland for its first tour of the season said that the team aims to do well against top-ranked teams and boost their preparations for the Olympics. The Indian captain said, “We look forward to playing against higher-ranked teams like New Zealand (world number six) and Great Britain (world number five). We want to do well as it will give us a good boost in our Olympic preparation. A good start against tough teams will matter a lot.”

The Blue sticks will lock horns against New Zealand’s Development squad on January 25. After the match against the Development squad the Indian women’s team will be up against the New Zealand women’s team on January 27 and 29. The Indian team will then take on world number five Great Britain before facing hosts once again.

The Indian team has qualified for the Tokyo Olympics under Rani’s captaincy and the Indian skipper said that the team under her is aiming to perform well against New Zealand as they have been good against Germany. Rani said, “While we have done well in the past against Great Britain, New Zealand is one team we look forward to doing well against. They play tough, attacking hockey, and they will be quite challenging.”

The skipper also talked about the newly appointed Analytical Coach, Janneke Schopman, and said that her addition to the team is a will improve the teams’ performance as the 42-year-old former Dutch international, who is also an Olympic gold-medallist from the 2008 Games, the experience will help the team immensely.

Rani said, “I think it’s fantastic that she has joined our camp. We are excited to work with her, and she knows our team well.”