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India will take on Belgium in FIH Women's Hockey Pro League

Women's team captain Savita Punia talks about India's upcoming match with Belgium at the International Hockey Federation Pro League

Indian players celebrate after scoring a goal during the Women's FIH Pro League hockey match between India and Netherlands. Image via PTI
Indian players celebrate after scoring a goal during the Women's FIH Pro League hockey match between India and Netherlands. Image via PTI (PTI)

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The Indian women's team will play a double-header against Belgium in FIH Women's Hockey Pro League 11-12 June at the Sportcentrum Wilrijkse Plein Stadium in Antwerp, Belgium. The Indian women's team is currently placed at the third position in the table with 22 points in 8 games, just behind Argentina and the Netherlands. Belgium, on the other hand, is currently in seventh place on the table with 12 points in 8 games.

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

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"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," Punia said in a statement.

"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," Punia added.

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The Indian women's team will enter into 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 contest via shootout (1-3) after the match was tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation time.

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.

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"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. 

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