Published 18:38 IST, September 14th 2019
Savita Punia: 'Having a well-settled unit will help excel against USA'
Savita Punia, Indian women's hockey team vice-captain explained having a well-settled unit will help them excel against USA in the Tokyo Olympics Qualifiers
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Savita Punia, the Indian Women's Hockey team Vice Captain expressed that having a well-settled unit will help them excel against USA in the Tokyo Olympics qualifier. The qualifiers are to be held in Bhubaneswar on November 1 and November 2. "Most of the players selected for our upcoming tour of England have played together as a unit for a long time now. We have a well-settled unit as we understand each other's game pretty well which will further help us against the USA at the Olympic qualifiers," she said. The Indian women's hockey team drew a tricky USA in the final round of the Olympic qualifiers.
'Aim to qualify for Tokyo': Savita
Vice-captain of the Indian Women's Hockey team revealed that it was their aim to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. "It has been our aim to qualify for Tokyo after having qualified for Rio after a gap of 36 years. We are all very determined about succeeding in the qualifiers and the upcoming matches against Great Britain will be good preparation for that," she said.
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Preparing for the five-match series
As a part of the preparation for the Qualifiers, the team will play a five-match series against England from September 27 to October 4. India's ace goalkeeper believes that in the US, they will face a tough team. "Great Britain and the US have quite similar playing styles, and all of us are really pleased that we will be playing against Great Britain before the two huge matches in November," she said. She further added, "the girls have been sweating it out in training for the past two weeks, and I am really confident that we will be able to execute our plans well."
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17:10 IST, September 14th 2019