"Team's main focus is to qualify for the World Cup" - coach Janneke Schopman

Indian women's hockey team coach Janneke Schopman is expecting a positive reaction from the team at the Asia Cup. This will be the team's first major competition in 2022.

The hockey tournament is slated to take place from January 21-28 in Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat, Oman.

The women's team will enter the quadrennial tournament aiming to defend their title. The team's prime objective will be to qualify for the World Cup later in 2022.

Indian Hockey Team Coach Janneke Schopman speaks about team's preparations:

Women's team coach Janneke Schopman is very keen on the team's preparations ahead of the event. The team is currently focused on playing a quick and attacking brand of hockey.

"Currently we are working on defining our style of play as the Indian Women's Team. That means a lot of movement on and off the ball and people joining in attack as we want to play fast and attacking hockey. We want to make use of our skills and speed to good effect."

Schopman added:

"At the same time, we want to be a sturdy defensive unit and take pride in competing in our 1v1 duels. I am happy with what I am seeing because the better we defend in training, the more necessary it becomes to attack better, and that really accelerates the progress of the team."

Schopman further added that the team's main focus is to qualify for the World Cup and also emphasized the team's lookouts during their outing in Oman. The coach stated that the Asia Cup will be important for evaluating and assessing whether the team is able to meet the expectations or not.

"First of all, our first key objective will be to qualify for the World Cup. I am also very keen to see the level of where we are at the moment and whether we can execute the style of play that I envision for the team."

She added:

"I am not looking to measure my team against our opponents in the competition, but instead against my own expectations of how I want my team to play. I am eager to see how the team will perform in Oman as it will be really challenging," added coach Schopman.