Captain Rani Rampal: 'We can compete with any team in the world'

Indian women Hockey team captain Rani Rampal on Friday stated that her team can compete with any team in world. Just ahe of  FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers, Rampal said that her team is very fit and y have improved a lot over last two to three years. Comparing it to or teams, she said that she does t feel like team lacks in fitness. India will compete against USA on vember 1 and vember 2 at Kalinga Hockey Stium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. 

On Rankings

Speaking about rankings of hockey team,  Indian women Hockey team captain said that rankings do t matter as hockey has changed over time. Referring to England's win in last Olympics, Rampal said that even though England has ranked lower, y did win Olympics. Indian Women Hockey team is ranked at 9 in world, while USA is ranked on 13. According to Rampal, even though USA is ranked lower, matches will t be easy as latter will be trained. She furr ded that y just want to play and team wants to focus on mselves. All that matters is what we are doing and t what US is doing, she ded. 

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On playing at Kalinga Stium

According to Rampal, crowd at Kalinga Stium has been extremely passionate about hockey, which eventually acts as an vant to m. Rampal stated that crowd's energy is an vant for m to play better. Earlier, several men's hockey matches have taken place at Kalinga Stium.   official Twitter p of Hockey India has tweeted pictures of Rani Rampal- Indian Women's Hockey team captain and Manpreet Pawar- Indian Men's Hockey team captain from press conference held on Friday. 

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(With ANI inputs)