Three from Odisha in Indian Women’s Hockey team for Tour of England

Bhubaneswar: Three players from Odisha have been selected in the 18-member Indian Women’s Hockey team for the forthcoming Tour of England.

Hockey India on Friday named the 18-member Indian women’s team for their upcoming Tour of England which is scheduled to take place from September 27 to October 4 in Marlow, England.

The players from Odisha include Defender Deep Grace Ekka, and Midfielders Lilima Minz and Namita Toppo.

Deep Grace Ekka and Lilima Minz retained their places in the side from the team which won the Olympic Test Event in Japan recently, while Namita Toppo made a comeback into the side after a lengthy spell due to injury.

Rani Rampal will lead the side while Savita will play as her deputy during the five matches against Great Britain.

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“The balance and mixture of players in our team remains the same from previous tournaments as go into an important phase in our objective of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics 2020,” expressed chief coach Sjoerd Marijne .

“It is good to have Namita Toppo back in the squad for the first time since Asian Games 2018, and she has given us confidence in training to select her for the upcoming tour,” he added.

Indian Team

Goalkeepers: Savita (Vice-Captain), Rajani Etimarpu

Defenders: Deep Grace Ekka, Gurjit Kaur, Reena Khokhar, Salima Tete

Midfielders: Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Nikki Pradhan, Monika, Neha Goyal, Lilima Minz, Namita Toppo

Forwards: Rani (Captain), Vandana Katariya, Navneet Kaur, Lalremsiami, Navjot Kaur and Sharmila Devi