Hockey Pro League: India women resume campaign against Australia
Qualifying for the 2026 World Cup without having to scramble for a spot is the priority for Harendra Singh-coached side
The Indian women’s hockey team failure to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics was a big jolt. They had qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics, a first after 36 years, and then found a high when they were in bronze medal contention at the 2021 Tokyo Games but lost the playoff.
Then came the transition period when chief coach Sjoerd Marijne quit, and his assistant and Dutch compatriot Janneke Schopman who took over could not guide the team to Paris, the team failing to qualify.
India are again in transition mode. Harendra Singh has taken over as coach and youngsters have taken the spots of the seniors. Salima Tete has taken over as captain from goalkeeper Savita Punia.
Harendra has a task on hand, having to rebuild the team and also ensure it registers important wins to rise again. It starts with the European leg of Pro League, where they first face Australia in London on Saturday. With half the season over, India have logged only nine points from eight games (won 2, drawn 2, lost 4) in the elite nine-team tournament.
However, India only need to finish in a certain position in the table to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. With Belgium and Netherlands having qualified as co-hosts and Germany having made the cut via the 2023-24 Pro League, the next highest ranked team will qualify. If India miss out, the next chance will come at the Hangzhou Asia Cup from September 5-14 where the winners will qualify.
“We will take the Pro League matches as preparatory games for the Asia Cup. There is also an opportunity (to qualify from Pro League). Even if we finish in the top four, we can go to the World Cup,” said Harendra. “There are a lot of equations at play. So, that is in the back of our mind. But we will go match-by-match.”
India would like to ensure qualification without having to wait until the World Cup Qualifiers in February-March 2026, after the experience ahead of the Paris Games.
Having missed qualification after failing to win the Asian Games gold in 2023, India went into the Olympic Qualifiers in Ranchi as favourites. But they failed after not even finishing in the top 3.
“It’s a good tournament, fighting against the world’s top teams. Of the four opponents we will play, one is an Olympic silver medallist (China), another is a bronze medallist (Argentina). We’ve already beaten Holland once (in February in Bhubaneswar). We were solid against Australia (in the bilateral series). We have the capability. If we improve day-by-day we definitely can be a contender for (World Cup) qualifying in the Pro League.”
India face world No.5 Australia on June 14 and 15 and Argentina on June 17 and 18. The team then travels to Antwerp to face hosts and world No.3 Belgium on June 21 and 22. They face China in Berlin on June 28 and 29.
“We left on May 28, well in advance, to acclimatise in Europe. So, that won’t be a challenge. The challenge will be how we can be a threat for our opponents in foreign countries with the mindset, energy and the kind of hockey we want to play,” said Harendra.
“We know the principle of play, we know each other, we know what kind of training we have done, we have also analysed the opponents. Now the time has come to progress, match by match, and deliver strong results.”
