Expressing satisfaction over team's showing against England in the opening match,  Chief coach Janneke Schopman and skipper Savita on Monday exuded confidence that India will come out victorious against China in their second pool B match of Women's Hockey World Cup at Amstelveen on Tuesday

In their opener India put a spirited show to kickstart their campaign with a thrilling 1-1 draw against England yesterday.

India and China have faced each other three times this year, with India winning all three matches. India registered a 2-0 win in the 3rd/4th Placed Match at the Asia Cup and won both the FIH Hockey Pro League Matches (7-1 and 2-1) earlier this year against their Asian counterparts.

Meanwhile, China also played out a 2-2 draw against New Zealand in their opening match of the tournament.

Talking to Hockey India, Savita "China is a very good team, they are full of surprises and we will have to be on the top of our game against them. It will be really important to convert our chances and execute our plans perfectly. We are looking forward to a good challenge, and the focus as always will be to play good hockey."

-----------------------------Advertisement------------------------------------Abua Awas Yojna 

Coach Janneke Schopman was optimist that the team will be able to create opportunities if the players stick to the game plan.

"China is a difficult team to beat, they have a very good PC setup and they also defend well. If we can play our own game, we can hopefully create some opportunities," she concluded.

About the game against England ,Janneke said, "I think we started the game really well, creating a penalty corner in the opening minute. England were dangerous at times but we managed to play well on the ball and defended calmly most of the time. We were unlucky in our penalty corner execution and in the end, the two green cards disturbed our rhythm a little."

 "Overall, I’m quite happy with our performance but also know we can be better in certain areas," she added.

Savita, who made some remarkable saves in the match said, "We knew it was going to be a high-pressure match, and I am happy that we showed great character on the pitch. 

"I think we could have done better and converted our chances to win the match, nevertheless, we have picked up a valuable point against a very strong team. So, it's a positive start for us." she said 

HSB

must read