New Delhi: Indian hockey team is practicing at the National Stadium, New Delhi ahead of their Olympic Qualifiers campaign. Ahead of the qualifiers, Indian coach C.R. Kumar said, “We have been training hard and showed that we are in good form in the recently concluded test series against Azerbaijan.”

India will play their first match against Ukraine on Feb. 18 at the National Stadium, New Delhi. The other teams that will participate in the qualifiers are South Africa, Italy, Canada and Poland.

“South Africa is the only team that we have seen playing. We are doing our home work on the rest of the teams. The team is gelling together very well”, said Asunta Lakra, captain of Indian team.

On the captaincy part she said, “I am very happy with the team given to me. I am confident in the lot and I can assure you that every player who will take the field will strive for victory.

One of the senior members of the team, Ritu Rani said that she is looking forward to the qualifiers.

“The mood in the camp is very good. Being a senior player it is my responsibility to motivate the youngsters. We will not be complacent against any team because qualifying in the Olympics is the only thing that matters right now”, she added.

In the recently concluded Azerbaijan test series India had a problem converting the penalty corners.

“We should have done better on that aspect of our game. We have learnt from our mistakes and hopefully the results in the short corners will be much better. We are trying some new things and will try them in the qualifiers”, said Kumar.

By Indian Sports News Network