The Indian junior women’s hockey team is set to play five away matches against Belgium, Australia and the Netherlands from June 8 to 17, as part of its preparations for this year’s FIH Junior Women’s World Cup in Santiago, Chile. The Indian team recently had a promising outing at the Four Nations Tournament in Rosario, Argentina, from where it headed straight to Belgium.
India will begin the tour with three matches against Belgium at the Hockey Center of Excellence, Wilrijkse Plein, in Antwerp.The Indians will then face Australia at Beerschot Tennis Hockey Padel Club, in Kontich, before wrapping up the tour with a match against the Netherlands at Hockey Club Kampong, in Utrecht.
In Argentina, the Indian side delivered strong performances against quality opposition. India registered a 2-1 win and a 2-2 (2-3 SO) loss against Chile, earned a 1-1 (2-0 SO) win and a 2-4 loss against hosts Argentina, and defeated Uruguay twice - 3-2 and 2-2 (3-1 SO).
Facing strong international opponents in varied conditions will help fine-tune the squad’s combinations, build match temperament, and instill confidence required to perform at the world stage.
“This extended tour is an excellent opportunity for our team. We had a valuable learning experience in Argentina, and now moving straight into matches against Belgium, Australia, and the Netherlands will allow us to build on that momentum,” Indian junior women’s hockey team coach Tushar Khandker said in a release. “These are high calibre teams that will test our tactical and technical depth, as well as our consistency. For many of these players, this is a critical phase in their development, and such tours give them the kind of exposure that can’t be replicated in training sessions alone.”Most importantly, this tour plays a crucial role in our preparations for the FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup 2025 later this year. Every match we play now helps us get one step closer to being ready for that challenge,” he added.
Diksha adds another solid round in Spain to move into tied third place
Tenerife (Spain), Jun 6 (PTI) India’s Diksha Dagar followed up her opening round with another strong effort, carding a three-under 69 on the second day to lie tied third at the Tenerife Women’s Open on the Ladies European Tour here. The 24-year-old has carded rounds of 70 and 69 to sit at five-under after two rounds. She is four shots behind sole leader Lauren Walsh (67-68), who is nine-under at Abama Golf.
Avani Prashanth played three-over par 75 on the second day to fall down the standings to tied 43. Tvesa Malik (73-75), Hitaashee Bakshi (72-76) and Sneha Singh (77-79) failed to make the cut, which was set at three-over par.
Starting her day on the first tee, Diksha picked up a shot on the third hole before dropping one on the fifth but immediately got it back on the sixth and grabbed one more on the ninth.
On the back nine, Diksha made birdies on the 11th and 12th holes. She dropped a double bogey on the 16th hole before recovering a shot on the 17th for a day’s work of 69. With her father Narender on the bag, Diksha had a rollercoaster day with six birdies and three birdies, that included some excellent approaches and a brilliant bounce-back birdie on the 17th.
“I’m really looking forward to the weekend. I need to continue the same level of game. I’m playing well but need to keep steady. I’ll focus on myself and won’t look at the scores,” the two-time LET winner said. “Dad has been doing a good job on the bag reading the greens. We have been discussing it a lot. Because of him, I got some good birdies opportunities.
This course is really difficult for the caddies.”
Diksha is now placed tied third in the standings with six more players including first day joint leader Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen.
The other six are Czech Republic’s Sara Kouskova, winner of the last event, the Jabra Ladies Open, Spain’s Marta Martin, Austria’s Emma Spitz, overnight leader Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen from Denmark plus Italian pair Alessandra Fanali and Anna Zanusso.
Avani was doing fine with three birdies in the first six holes and even got into Top-5 at that stage. She dropped a bogey on the ninth and had a disastrous Par-4 13th hole, where she dropped a quadruple bogey for a eight and slipped down steeply.
Tvesa had two birdies against five bogeys, Hitaashee had one birdie against five bogeys and Sneha had two birdies, four bogeys, a double bogey and a triple bogey in her 79.
Two shots behind the leader Walsh is Shannon Tan of Singapore with 71-66 and a combined score of seven under par.
The Order of Merit leader Mimi Rhodes (70-73) is placed tied 20th in the standings at one under par.