Hockey India on Monday named the 18-member junior women's team who will vie for honours at the FIH Hockey Women's Junior World Cup South Africa 2021. The event slated to begin on December 5 will witness 16 top teams from across the globe battle for the title which was previously won by Argentina in 2016.
India's best performance in this prestigious event came in 2013 where they won the bronze medal after beating England.
The Indian side will see Lalremsiami, who was part of India's historic performance at the Tokyo Olympics where the senior side finished fourth, captain the squad while defender Ishika Chaudhary will shoulder the responsibility of vice-captain.
The 18-member team also includes Salima Tete and Sharmila Devi who were part of the Indian Women's Hockey Team at the Tokyo Olympics. The team also includes Bichu Devi Kharibam, Khushboo, Akshata Abaso Dhekale, Priyanka, Marina Lalramnghaki, Ajmina Kujur, Baljeet Kaur, Reet, Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke, Beauty Dungdung, Deepika, Mumtaz Khan, Sangita Kumari, Jiwan Kishori Toppo.
Preeti and Prabhleen Kaur have been chosen as alternate players (AP) who will be permitted to play only if there is an injury or someone in the 18-member squad is ruled out of the tournament due to COVID-19.
Speaking about the team selection, chief coach Janneke Schopman said: "To pick the final selection of 18 players was extremely difficult especially as all 28 players in the Core Probable Group worked very hard in the past months and made good progress. But we feel that we have selected a strong team that is able to compete with every team at the Junior World Cup."
"With the experience from the senior team and some great young talent, we will show the best India has to give. The team is very excited as they have waited a long time to compete at the world stage and we're looking forward to making the most of this great opportunity," she added.
India, who are grouped in Pool C, begin their campaign on December 6 against Russia. They will take on defending champions Argentina on December 7 in their second match in the round-robin league, followed by their match against Japan on December 9.
( With inputs from ANI )
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