Hockey India announces 33 junior women core probables

After the recent improvement showed by the Indian senior men and junior men's teams, Hockey India is focused on bringing a similar upswing with the junior women's hockey team.

In this pursuit, Hockey India has named the 33-member core probables for the junior women's national camp. The core probables were picked after an intense selection trials conducted under the watchful eyes of David John, Director High Performance Hockey India.

The core group will be trained by Baljeet Singh Saini, Coach for the Indian junior women's squad.

Saini, a former national player who has represented India at two successive Olympic Games - 1996 in Atlanta and 2000 in Sydney, has previously worked with the Junior women's squad in 2016 and under his tutelage the U-18 Indian women's team had won a Bronze Medal at the U-18 Asia Cup held in December last year.

On May 24, the camp consisting of 38 players who were picked basis their performance at the recent Hockey India National Hockey Championships (Women), reported at SAI, Bengaluru where the selection trials were held in the first week of June. The core group has been selected on the basis of speed, agility, skill and basic understanding of the game.

The vision behind organizing the national camp for the junior women's team is to develop a core group of players who will aim to qualify for the prestigious 2020 Junior Women's World Cup as the team. The previous team had narrowly missed out on their qualification for the 2016 edition of the Junior Women's World Cup.

The junior women's core group features players from Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy who won the Hockey India 7th Junior Women National Hockey Championship 2017, runners-up Hockey Haryana, Hockey Bhopal, Hockey Him, Hockey Chandigarh, Hockey Odisha, Hockey Uttarakhand, Hockey Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Association of Indian Universities, Sports Authority of India, Hockey Gangpur-Odisha and Hockey Mizoram.

"We have analysed all the 38 players who were at the National Camp since May 24, and Hockey India's Selection Committee has further pruned down the core probables to 33 Junior Women athletes who will carry on their training. This Core Group will be provided with a support staff including Scientific Advisor, Video Analyst, Physiotherapist and a Masseuse just like we have for our Senior-team programs," stated David John.

"We have long-term goals for this group and with our vision set on the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games and the 2020 Junior World Cup, these 33 core probables will go through a development process that will prepare them for the challenges at the international level. This is a very talented group and I expect some of these girls to push for a place in the Senior Women's team in the coming months," he added.

Core Group Junior Women:

Goalkeepers:

Khushboo (Hockey Bhopal), Bichu Devi Kharibam (Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy), Chanchal (Hockey Chandigarh)

Defenders:

Priyanka (Hockey Haryana), Salima Tete (Hockey Jharkhand), Asmita Barla (Hockey Odisha), Alka Dung Dung (Sports Authority of India), Umra (Hockey Him), Gagandeep Kaur (Hockey Haryana), Antim (Hockey Him), Manisha Chauhan (Hockey Uttarakhand), Ishika Choudhary (Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy), Supriya Mundu (Hockey Jharkhand)

Midfielders:

Mahima Chaudhary (Hockey Haryana), Suman Devi Thoudam (Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy), Sunita Yadav (Uttar Pradesh Hockey), Mariana Kujur (Hockey Odisha), Jyoti (Association of Indian Universities), Manju Chorsiya (Hockey Him), Baljeet Kaur (Hockey Punjab), Sadhna Senger (Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy), Jiwan Kishori Toppo (Hockey Gangpur-Odisha), Primanjali Toppo (Hockey Gangpur-Odisha)

Forwards:

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