Bengaluru, 18 May 2019: A confident Indian Women’s Hockey Team left for the Republic Of Korea on Saturday morning from Bengaluru for a three-match Series against the hosts to be held in Jinchun starting 20 May 2019.  The team led by striker Rani and Vice-Captained by Goalkeeper Savita will look at this Series as an ideal preparation for the forthcoming FIH Women’s Series Finals Hiroshima 2019 which is scheduled to be held from June 15th – 23rd in Hiroshima, Japan.

“The team backed by some good results in the previous tournaments is confident about playing against a tough team like the Republic Of Korea in conditions best suited for them. The Series will be very challenging given how the Korean National Team has been playing lately. Doing well against them will be vital in our preparations for the FIH Women’s Series Finals Hiroshima 2019,” expressed Rani who is returning to the squad after a shoulder injury.

Since the start of the year, the Indian team has also toured Spain in January-February 2019 where they played matches against the host nation and Ireland, which saw them finish with a record of two wins, three draws and a loss. The team also embarked on their Malaysia Tour in April 2019 which saw them remain unbeaten against the Malaysian Women’s Hockey team as they won four matches and drew one. For the Series against Korea, the team will see the return of their Captain Rani as well as their dragflicker Gurjit Kaur.

“This will be an important Series for myself and Gurjit because we are coming back after rehabilitation. Playing high-intensity matches will put us in the right rhythm before we set off for the FIH Women’s Series Finals Hiroshima 2019. There have been some different things we have tried in this recent National Camp in terms of creating variations inside the circle. We will get to try and test these methods against this strong team and basis how we execute these changes we can plan better for the next big tournament,” concluded the Arjuna Awardee on the eve of the team’s departure from Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru.