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Women’s Hockey Pro League: We have worked on our mistakes, are ready for Belgium, says India skipper Savita

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Placed third in the FIH Women’s Hockey Pro League, the Indian team takes on World No. 7 Belgium in a key double-header this weekend at the Sportcentrum Wilrijkse Plein Stadium in Antwerp, hoping to improve their position in the league.

The Indian team currently has 22 points in 8 games and will take on Belgium in two matches on June 11 and 12. These two matches and subsequent games in the FIH Pro Leagues will also be vital preparations for the upcoming World Cup in Spain and the Netherlands.

India, who have recently done well and moved to sixth in the World Rankings, are currently third in the Pro League 2021/22 just behind Argentina and the Netherlands. Belgium, on the other hand, is currently placed in seventh place on the table with 12 points in 8 games.

Goalkeeper Savita, who will be leading the India women’s hockey team as captain for the upcoming matches, spoke on how the team has prepared for the opposition ahead of the double-header.

“We are prepared for Belgium. We have a number of seasoned players in our squad who know what it takes to win on foreign soil. We have been consistently performing well in recent months, and we are confident that we have what it takes to win big games away from home,” Savita was quoted as saying by Hockey India in a release.

“We have worked on the mistakes we made against the Netherlands in our previous two games and are confident that we will not repeat the same mistakes in the upcoming games. We have talked about the areas where we need to improve and worked hard in those areas and are confident that we’ll succeed here,” Savita added.

The Indian women’s hockey team will enter the contest after a win and loss against the Netherlands in their previous FIH Women’s Hockey Pro League 2021/22 encounters in April. The Indian team won the first game 2-1 and went down in the second via shootout (1-3) after the match was tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation time.

Defender Deep Grace Ekka, who has been named as the vice-captain, said that the team is improving with each game and that they will be aiming for a win against Belgium.

“I believe we are prepared. We have faith in ourselves, in our team, and, most importantly, in one another. We are aware that we must maintain our performance as we prepare for the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup, which will take place in July of this year,” Ekka said.

“We must maintain possession of the ball against Belgium, and we must be active and apply pressure to gain possession of the ball when we do not have it. Our immediate goal is to win these games, as well as the next matches against Argentina and the United States, in order to boost our morale ahead of the World Cup,” she added.

International

CT 2025: India to take on Pakistan on Feb 23, likely to play in Colombo or Dubai: Sources

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New Delhi, Dec 19: The much-awaited clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2025 will be played on February 23 with Colombo and Dubai front-runners to play host for India’s matches in the tournament being played in hybrid format. The development comes after the ICC Board said that “India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue.”

“India will take on Pakistan at a neutral venue on February 23, 2025. ICC looking at Colombo and Dubai to host their matches.”

The Champions Trophy is scheduled to be played in February and March 2025. Meanwhile, ICC said the schedule for the marquee tournament will be confirmed in the coming days.

Pakistan are the defending champions of the tournament, having defeated India by 180 runs in the final at The Oval in 2017. Both teams last played against each other in the T20 World Cup in New York earlier this year which India won by six runs and went on to claim their second silverware in the format.

Due to the strained political relations between the two neighbouring countries, India and Pakistan only play each other in international events including World Cups and Asia Cup. The last bilateral series between India and Pakistan was held in 2012-13 when the latter toured India for the five-match white-ball series.

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It’s OFFICIAL! All India vs Pakistan Matches At ICC Events To Be Played At Neutral Venue Till 2027

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India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue, the ICC Board confirmed on Thursday, 19 December. The schedule for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is set to be confirmed soon, with Pakistan aiming to defend the title they won in 2017.

The eight-team event will feature Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, and South Africa, alongside hosts Pakistan.

This will apply to the upcoming ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (hosted by Pakistan), set to be played in February and March 2025, as well as the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 (hosted by India) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (hosted by India and Sri Lanka).

It was also announced that the PCB has been awarded hosting rights of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2028, where neutral venue arrangements will also apply. Cricket Australia is set to host one of the senior ICC women’s events during the period 2029 to 2031.

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‘Our dream is getting fulfilled’: Coach Sumit Bhatia elated to see Kho Kho going global

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New Delhi, Dec 16: Coach Sumit Bhatia is all pumped up for the first edition of the Kho Kho World Cup scheduled to take place from January 13-19, 2025. Bhatia, who holds a distinct record of being the only head coach to have won the Asian Championship twice, believes that this historical step is an indication of the realisation of the dream to take the sport to the international level and help it gain global recognition.

Having been honoured with the best coach award by the Delhi government, Bhatia has been a part of various Indian teams’ success, including the 2016 and 2023 Asian Kho Kho Championship victories, and has trained players like Nasreen Shaikh and Sarika Sudhakar Kale. Both of them have been Arjuna Awardees.

Nasreen, who is also a part of the World Cup camp, is the only player who has played in two Asian Championships and won the gold. The coach-student duo is now gearing up for the global event.

Sharing how the journey of Kho Kho World Cup’s inception, the coach said, “We organised an international camp here before COVID happened, in 2020. Coaches and players from 16 countries came here and we gave them training. Now they will be coming here for the World Cup but this campaign started in that camp”.

He further said, “Around 30-35 countries were willing to play the tournament but we picked the best 20 teams for both men and women. Some countries have single teams while some have double teams but a total of 24 countries will be participating in the tournament. It was our dream to take Kho Kho to the international level and now we can see that our dream is getting fulfilled.”

He also lauded the launch of the Ultimate Kho Kho League and shared how the franchise-based model has helped the players and coaches gain recognition, while also bringing forward grassroot talent.

“When the Ultimate Kho Kho league started, I also joined Telegu Yodhas as their head coach and we also played the final. Players have gotten exposure through the league and it’s not just financial. Earlier we used to hesitate while admitting being a Kho Kho coach but today our players introduce us as their coach,” said Bhatia.

He added, “The league got so much coverage that wherever we go, the players are approached for autographs. So the platform of the league started a new world for both coaches and players and now not just India but the entire world knows us. Earlier we used to tell people about our game but now they know what is Kho Kho and Ultimate Kho Kho league and are also waiting for the third season.”

Bhatia also discussed the impact of sports science on Kho Kho and lauded the newly introduced technology and said, “We have benefitted a lot from it. Sometimes we don’t understand why a player is not performing well. But with the introduction of sports science, we now know about the details of the problem.

“For example, a player might be facing issues with his left leg while sitting and so, it gives us an opportunity to work on that weakness… Sports science has helped us in identifying the accuracy and weakness of a player. So it’s very beneficial for us.”

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