FIH Women’s Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024 Ranchi: Preview, squad, schedule, live streaming info

PREVIEW

The battle to earn a berth for Paris Olympics begins with the FIH Women’s Hockey Olympic Qualifiers Ranchi 2024 kicking off in Ranchi, Jharkhand at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astro Turf on Saturday.

The eight teams in the fray include World No. 5 Germany, Japan, Chile and Czech Republic in Pool A while hosts India are clubbed in Pool B with New Zealand, United States and Italy. Only the top three teams in the tournament will make the qualification cut. 

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Vying for its third consecutive Olympic berth, the Savita-led Indian team are optimistic about its chances. Going into the tournament as the second highest ranked team, the hosts will be riding on some significant performances in recent times, namely the Asian Champions Trophy where it avenged its loss to China in the 19 ^th Asian Games Hangzhou semifinal.

The Indian side will begin its campaign with a match against the United States on Saturday. The Indian team had defeated the US in the 2019 Olympic Qualifiers and will be looking to repeat that performance this time too.

On Sunday, the hosts will take on New Zealand. After a day’s rest, India will play Italy on 16th January while the semifinals will be held on 18th and the final on 19th January.