Hockey
Analysing India's group-stage opponents in FIH Women's Hockey World Cup 2022
The Indian women's team are placed in Pool B of the tournament alongside England, New Zealand and China. Let's take look at their performances.
Indian women's hockey team (Source: Hockey India)
The Indian women's hockey team are all set to fly to the Netherlands for their campaign in the Women's Hockey World Cup 2022, which begins on July 1.
Last week a 20-member Indian squad was announced by Hockey India who will be travelling for the tournament.
The team, which won't see the presence of seasoned star Rani Rampal due to an injury, will be led by goalkeeper Savita Punia and vice-captain Deep Grace Ekka. Apart from Rani, the team features all players who were part of the Olympic campaign, where they finished in the fourth position.
A look at India's pool in the Women's Hockey World Cup
The Indian women's team are placed in Pool B of the tournament alongside England, New Zealand and China.
Savita and Co. will face England, against whom they lost their bronze medal match at Tokyo 2020, in their opener at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen, the Netherlands. India will play all their group matches in Amstelveen. India need to top the group to qualify for the quarter-finals directly, which will also be played in Amstelveen. If India finish second or third in the group, they will have to play a cross-over match with 2nd or 3rd placed teams of other groups to reach the quarters.
They will move to Terrassa, Spain for the semis and final if they qualify.
Analysing India's opponents at the FIH Hockey World Cup 2022
England
World no. 4 England are the only team in the group that has a better FIH ranking than India (World no. 4). The England team has played the World Cup 10 times with their best finish in 2010 in the 3rd position. In the previous edition, they ended India's run at the World Cup in quarters and finished seventh. England will be a reason for India's worry just because of their raking. However, their performances in the WOmen's FIH Pro Hockey League 2021-22 have not been impressive. Of the 14 matches they played, England won 6 and lost 8, compared to India's 8 wins and 6 losses. England suffered big blows against Argentina, Spain, and Belgium, among others, where India gave a good fight to the big teams.
New Zealand:
The Vantage Black Sticks are ranked 9th in the world and will be playing their eighth World Cup. Their best finish has been fifth in 2014 and in the previous edition, they finished in 11th place. India, however, has never been able to defeat New Zealand in their past encounters. The women in Black did not take part in the Hockey Pro League 2021-22.
China
China are placed in the 13th position in FIH Rankings. The team that won the silver medal in Beijing 2008 Olympics will be making its 9th World Cup appearance. They will aim to put up a good show to avenge their otherwise forgetful appearance in the previous World Cup, finishing at the bottom of the table. India have defeated China nine times in their 16 encounters since 2013.
