Our defense is better than before, says Indian hockey captain Rani Rampal ahead their match vs Great Britain

The Indian women’s hockey team has been pushed to a wall at the 2021 Olympics. Having lost both their matches in the tournament so far, the Rani Rampal-led team will meet Great Britain on Wednesday in their third Tokyo Olympics 2021 match with an aim to register first points on the board.

The Indian women’s hockey had got off to a bad start by registering back-to-back losses against Netherlands and Germany in at the Oi Hockey Stadium in Tokyo. India lost to Netherlands 1-5 while Germany got the better of India 2-0, in a closely fought contest.

However, in what could be a positive sign, the Indian defense, after a torrid outing against the Netherlands, held up well to thwart most of Germany’s attacks.

The emphasis will now be on the forward line, with the Indian women’s hockey team, guilty of losing possession and failing to convert chances with greater efficiency.

Meeting Great Britain, the reigning Olympics champion, isn’t easy. Indian women's hockey team coach Sjoerd Marijne remained confident and said the lessons learned from the Netherlands’ defeat were implemented in the match against Germany. He told Hockey India:

“We played better yesterday than in our previous match. The quality of the play has to improve with each match, and that’s what we are focussing on. It was unfortunate that we missed our penalty stroke at 1 – 0, but I’m happy that we had that stroke."

"We had many opportunities to score, which was a positive sign. We played with a lot of energy and were able to put pressure on Germany. We will now focus on recovery and making improvements for the next match.”

Great Britain are coming on the back of a scintillating 4-1 win over South Africa.

Skipper Rani acknowledged the fact that India had a better outing against Germany than their first group match, but stressed the need to make further improvements for their next match against Great Britain. She said:

“We created a lot of chances against a tough opponent like Germany and our defensive organization was better than before. We know that we are on the right track and our time will come. We must show our strength of character as a team as this is a long competition and we still have matches left to play.”

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The focus, according to the skipper, will be on what the Indians have learned from the two matches.

“We know they are the defending hockey champions and they will be a tough opponent to compete against, but we want to focus on our good takeaways from our previous match and identify the areas where we still need to improve.”

When and where to watch India vs Great Britain hockey match

India's matches at the 2021 Olympics will be broadcast on the Sony Sports Network and on the state-run broadcaster Doordarshan.

Live telecast: Doordarshan, Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 2 HD, Sony Ten 3, Sony Ten 3 HD, Sony Ten 4, Sony Ten 4 HD, Sony Six, Sony Six HD

Live streaming: Sony Liv

Check Out: Tokyo Olympics 2021 Schedule

India women’s hockey squad for Olympics 2021

Goalkeeper: Savita Punia

Defenders: Deep Grace Ekka, Nikki Pradhan, Gurjit Kaur, Udita Duhan, Reena Khokhar

Midfielders: Nisha, Neha, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Monika, Navjot Kaur, Salima Tete, Namita Toppo

Forwards: Rani Rampal (captain), Navneet Kaur, Lalremsiami, Vandana Katariya, Sharmila Devi.