Berlin: The Indian women’s hockey team would look to break its six-match losing streak and avoid relegation from the FIH Pro League with positive results against China, starting with the first match here on Saturday.
The Indian women are currently placed at the bottom of the nine-team table with 10 points from 14 games and are in danger of relegation to the second tier FIH Nations Cup in 2026.
It’s not what Hockey India had in its mind when Harendra Singh was brought back on board as the head coach.
After a relatively good outing at home leg earlier this year, the Indian women lost six consecutive matches against Australia, Argentina and Belgium (two matches against one opponent) in the European leg of the tournament.
India will be determined to sign off their Pro League campaign with valuable wins in back-to-back matches against fourth placed China on Saturday and Sunday here.
“It is a very crucial double header for us over the weekend. But we will draw inspiration from the Indian men’s team who finished with an inspiring win against Belgium,” said captain Salima Tete.
“This Pro League outing has been a learning experience with several grey areas that we need to work on as a team. We will be introspecting on this performance when we go back home but for now our focus is on doing well against China,” she said.
India will take confidence from their last outing against China where they beat them 3-0 in the pool stage and from a closely-fought final (1-0) to win the Asian Champions Trophy in Bihar in November last year.
However, in the previous season of the Pro League, India had lost 1-2 in the double header.
“They are a known opponent to us, from our regular outings in the continental championships we are aware of their potential. They are a tough team to beat but we will play to our strengths,” Tete said.
The Indians might have suffered six straight defeats, but they played good, attacking hockey here.
But their inability to utilise their chances upfront and convert penalty corners did them in.
There was too much pressure on Deepika to score from penalty corners and she fumbled under pressure on quite a few occasions.
The Indian midfield though impressed with the likes of Salima Tete, Lalremsiami, Sharmila Devi, Vaisnavi Vitthal Phalke and Neha creating enough chances for the forward line.
Sunelita Toppo, in particular, was a live wire in the midfield, and threatened the opposition defence with her brilliant stick work and runs.
But the strikers let India down as the likes of Navneet, Deepika, Baljeet Kaur and others struggled to get the decisive final touch.
The backline comprising Sushila Chanu, Jyoti, Ishika Chaudhary, Jyoti Chatri and Suman Devi Toudam too were guilty of committing silly mistakes under pressure.
But with relegation looming, the Indian women can’t afford to commit any mistakes in their last two matches.
Harendra too would be under immense pressure to help his wards to deliver for two complete performances this weekend.
Before the European leg, Harendra roped in Dutch great Taeke Taekema to work with the drag-flickers but that move hasn’t translated into results.
The Indians have literally struggled to convert their chances besides being sloppy at the back.
Having lost the chance to qualify directly for next year’s World Cup through Pro League, India will need to win the Asia Cup in Hangzhou in September to book their berth in the quadrennial event.
