‘Matches against the senior team have helped us polish our skills’ – says Indian Junior Women’s team captain Salima Tete

The Indian Junior Women’s Hockey team is gearing up for the FIH Junior Women’s World Cup which will be happening in South Africa from 1st April. India are in group D along with Wales, Germany and Malaysia. The Women in Blue will start their campaign against Wales on April 1, followed by a match against Germany on April 3. They will play their final group match against Malaysia on April 5.

Ahead of the tournament, Indian captain Salima Tete shared insights on her teammates, preparation, expectations from the tournament and much more.

The tournament got postponed by four months due to the spread of the Omicron variant of COVOD-19 in South Africa. Speaking on their preparations ahead of the tournament, captain Salima Tete said, “We are playing our practice matches with the seniors. Before this, all these facilities were not available.”

She shares how the juniors do not have much experience are using the practice matches to learn more about their game as they rub shoulders with the seniors. She feels that these matches are helping them prepare for the tournament as they ai to do well in South Africa.

“All the juniors are not that experienced, so this really helps the team. Moreover, they give us valuable inputs which we can use in our games. This gives us hope that we will definitely do well in South Africa. The team is also getting guidance from the senior players as well as their coaches, which will help us in the long run,” Salima added.

The Junior Hockey World Cup has a history of producing stars for tomorrow. Many talented players like Vandana Katariya, Rani Rampaul have featured in this tournament for India and then has gone on to become household names in Indian hockey with their exceptional and consistent performances in the sport. Similarly, many young girls will look to grab this limelight and perform at the Junior World Cup to earn that ticket to the senior Indian team.

“This tournament will surely give us players to count on in the near future. There are already three players in the squad who have played for the senior team. The rest who are not that experienced will have a crucial learning curve in these fixtures. For juniors, we do not have many mega tournaments, so this is one such opportunity for them to show their skills. They will be able prove their worth as players,” the Indian skipper concluded.