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India's women's hockey forward Vandana Katariya recently stated that she is pleased with the team's growth on the global stage.
Ever since the 2021 Tokyo Olympics campaign, things have fallen in place for India Women, most of it through constant deliberation and precise execution.
In an exclusive conversation with Sportskeeda, Vandana Katariya said:
"We have improved a lot after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. We have competed against the best teams in the world, with mixed results - few draws, few wins, and few losses in the 2021/22 FIH Pro League. With the help of coaches and the team as a whole, we were able to have a memorable tournament overall."
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The Indian women's hockey team humbled the USA with 4-2 and 4-0 wins in the final two matches of the 2021-22 FIH Pro League in Rotterdam, Netherlands. They finished the campaign with a third-place finish in the tournament.
Speaking about the impact the FIH Pro League will have on the upcoming FIH Women's World Cup as well as the Commonwealth Games (CWG 2022), Vandana said:
"We played well. The double-header final, two wins against the USA in the FIH Pro League was much needed keeping in mind the upcoming major tournaments. While playing as a team, we had the Women's World Cup and Commonwealth Games in mind. The top-notch performance on our debut has elevated our confidence one step further."
Vandana Katariya speaks about rivals England and CWG 2022
Vandana Katariya, along with the Indian team, will be in action against Ghana in their opening clash at the CWG 2022 on July 29. The Indian women's hockey team has been grouped with England, Canada, Ghana and Wales in Pool A.
Speaking about the team environment, the 30-year-old said:
"The perks of playing a team game is there are always people around to lift each other up and motivate them on a bad day, be it coaches or teammates. Despite being experienced, there's always nervousness while representing the nation before millions of people."
Arch-rivals England have impeded India's dream podium finish on several occasions. Speaking about the same, Vandana said:
"England has been our arch-rivals, we face each other most of the time, be it CWG or Olympics. We have lost the podium finish in a close battle 3-4 in Tokyo last year as well. But we are working on our mistakes the with the help of our coaches, we will fight till the end aiming to get a better and positive output this time around in Commonwealth Games."
India suffered a 3-4 defeat against the Briton in the Tokyo Olympics bronze medal match. In the last edition of the Commonwealth Games in 2018, the Women in Blue were humbled 0-6 by the English side to settle for a fourth-place finish in the tournament.
Deemed capable of defeating the best of the best on a good day, all eyes will be on the exuberant Indian side at CWG 2022 in Birmingham between July 28 and August 8.
