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India Women and USA Women will take on each other in the fourth FIH Olympic Women Qualifiers match at Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astroturf in Ranchi on January 13.
Led by Savita, India are entering the Paris Olympics Qualifiers campaign on the back of a title win in the Asian Champions Trophy in November 2023. They defeated Japan in the grand finale by 4-0 and would be hoping to continue their winning momentum. Their last defeat came against China in the Asian Games in October 2023.
USA Women, on the other hand, are entering this campaign on the back of a drawn-friendly series against New Zealand Women. Before that, they lost to Argentina Women by 2-1 in Pan American Games Playoffs. They have enough potential to disturb the India Women’s gameplay and make it big in their initial encounter of the competition.
On that note, let’s look at the three players you can pick as captain or vice-captain for IND-W vs USA-W FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers Match.
#3 Sangita Kumari (IND-W) - 9 credits
Sangita Kumari is expected to play a crucial role in the Qualifiers after her exceptional returns in the Asian Champions Trophy. She has an impressive understanding of India’s attacking players Lalremsiami, Navneet Kaur, and Salima Tete and accumulated six goals in the successful campaign.
Team India will hope to have a goal from Sangita in the first quarter and get off to a dominating start to keep the opposition on the back foot.
#2 Neha Goyal (IND-W) - 9 credits
India's most experienced midfielder Neha Goyal would be hoping to have an impressive campaign after finding success in India’s title-winning Asian Champions Trophy in November 2023.
With 140 caps in her kitty, Neha's experience would be crucial for Team India to start their campaign on a winning note. She scored two goals in the recent Champions Trophy and would be aiming to have better numbers.
#1 Navneet Kaur (IND-W) - 9.5 credits
Navneet Kaur, the midfielder, is one of the experienced players in the current set-up. She has amassed 46 goals, the highest goal-scorer in the squad for this campaign. Kaur played a crucial role in India's success in various tournaments.
She was a key member in the Tokyo Olympics, FIH Series Finals 2019, FIH Women's Hockey Pro League 2021-22, and Commonwealth Games 2022. Notably, she had an impressive outing in the recently concluded Asian Champions Trophy as well, making her an important multiplier.
