Sports News | We Are Headed in Right Direction: Women's Hockey Coach Schopman Ahead of World Cup

Bengaluru, Apr 29 (PTI) Aiming to "maximise" the pace of her side's game in the coming months, Indian women's hockey team chief coach Janneke Schopman said the recent FIH Pro League matches were ideal preparation for the team in the run up to the upcoming World Cup.

The World Cup will be held in Terrassa, Spain and Amstelveen, the Netherlands from July 1 to 17.

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The Indian team has raised expectations after its historic fourth-place finish at last year's Tokyo Olympics.

"Playing top teams in these home games, we were mostly focused on ourselves. But more than the outcome of the matches, I am satisfied with how the team has played and I believe we are headed in the right direction," Schopman said on 'Hockey Te Charcha', a podcast series launched by Hockey India.

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The Indian team led by Savita ended the home games of the FIH Pro League as table toppers in its maiden campaign.

Talking about the team's preparations ahead of the remaining Pro League matches in Europe and the World Cup, Schopman said, "For the next five to six weeks, we will be in Bengaluru - in our own environment and we will train towards a common goal of doing well in the Pro League and the World Cup.

"Our focus will be on building our physical robustness. We will work on maximizing our speed in the game. We also want to limit the risk of injury as we will be playing back-to-back Pro League and World Cup matches."

Speaking about their World Cup opponents in pool B, in which India is grouped with England, China and New Zealand, Schopman said, "We have played England a few times in the past and we are ?familiar with their game and the team has played China quite a lot too.

"But because of the pandemic, we have not seen New Zealand play in the last two years and from what I have read about them, there are a few retirements in their team and a few players are injured.

"But having said that, ours is a pool where anyone can beat anyone on a good day and we just need to make sure we start well."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)