We are still alive in women’s WC and that’s what matters: Captain Savita

India women’s hockey captain Savita has stated that whereas the pool matches won’t have gone in the facet’s favour in the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup, the truth that the workforce was still alive in the competitors was all that mattered proper now.

After ending third in Pool B, the India workforce will tackle hosts Spain in the crossover match on Sunday for a spot in the quarterfinal.

On the eve of the do-or-die match, Savita stated, “We knew the pool matches were going to be really tough. We fought hard and never gave up, but it’s just that the results haven’t been in our favour. However, we should quickly put it behind us, and focus on what’s next. We are still in contention and will give our everything to qualify for the quarterfinals.”

The India workforce performed out two thrilling attracts in opposition to England (1-1) and China (1-1) respectively, earlier than struggling a 3-4 loss in opposition to New Zealand in the pool stage of the event.

India vice-captain Deep Grace Ekka pressured on the necessity to make additional enhancements.

“I think we could have played a lot better in the three matches we played. We created many chances in the pool stage, especially in the last game, but our (penalty corner) conversion was not up to the mark. So, we certainly have to improve on our conversion, we have to be more clinical. At the end, it’s all about converting those opportunities,” she said.

The dwelling facet, Spain, registered two wins and a loss in the pool stage. They began their marketing campaign with a 4-1 win in opposition to Canada however misplaced 1-4 to Argentina in their second match. However, they bounced again with a 4-1 victory over South Korea to complete second in Pool C.

The final time India and Spain confronted one another was through the FIH Hockey Pro League 2021/22, the place each groups shared the honours. India gained the primary match 2-1, whereas Spain responded with a 4-3 win in the second leg of the double-header held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha earlier this yr.

“Spain are a very good team and they are playing at their home so it will be a challenging match,” stated Savita.

“However, we have played against them in the Pro League this year, so we are quite familiar with how they have been playing in recent times. But, the focus tomorrow will be on ourselves, on how we execute our plans. We will have to play our A-game against them for sure,” added Savita.

Ekka stated the workforce will go into the sport with out placing an excessive amount of stress and their focus shall be on enjoying good hockey.

“We have got a great opportunity to qualify for the quarterfinals and carry forward the momentum from there. However, we will go into the game without putting too much pressure. We just need to play to our strengths and just focus on playing good hockey because eventually, that will help us get the desired results,” stated Ekka.

–IANS

akm/

(Only the headline and image of this report could have been reworked by the Business Standard employees; the remainder of the content material is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)