The Indian Women’s Hockey team are playing in their maiden FIH Hockey Pro League. Hence experienced defender and double Olympian Nikki Pradhan shares her experience of playing top teams in the world almost every weekend. She feels that it is improving their stature and helping them develop into a better team as a whole.
The Indian Eves began their FIH Hockey Pro League campaign with two wins against Asian rivals China in Muscat, Oman. The Indian team backed those wins with another win against Spain but lost their second match against La Roja.
“We are really excited to be playing in the Pro League for the first time and this was probably the best thing that could happen to us this year where we play the World Cup and the Asian Games, both very important events for us and these matches against top teams of the world will hold us in good stead,” stated Nikki Pradhan.
Nikki Pradhan is very experienced as she became the first woman’s national team player to come out of Jharkhand as she featured at the Rio Olympics 2016.
The Indian Eves will now face World No. 5 Germany in yet another double legged FIH Hockey Pro League fixture. Pradhan shared how Germany will be very difficult opponents and the fact that they lost against Belgium will make them even more determined to bag wins against India.
“Germany is a very good side and them losing against Belgium in their opening matches will only make them more determined to win against us which is why we don’t want to take them lightly. We played them last year before we went for the Olympics and we understand their game and temperament. They are a tough opponent and these matches against Germany will be quite physical. But we are ready for the challenge,” she said.
Lastly, the defender spoke about chief coach Janneke Schopman who was also a defender during her playing days with the Dutch national team. She highlights how Schopman pays attention to the minute details and helps the team to improve on various aspects. She also added how Schopman believes in a lot of video analysis to point out the areas they need to improve.
“Janneke gets into the smallest details which could make a big difference in our individual performance. We use a lot of video analysis, not just of our opponents, but also of our own individual performance and she takes us through the plus and minus of how we performed. Since, she herself has played at the highest level as a defender, she brings in great expertise. I feel there are still some gaps we need to work on in our defence and we are trying to improve in each match,” she concluded.
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