Junior Women's Hockey to face Canada in World Cup 2023 opener

By: WE Staff | Tuesday, 28 November 2023

The FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup 2023 will give a kickstart from tomorrow, Wednesday in Santiago, Chile, with the Indian junior women’s hockey team facing off against the Canadian team. India, who finished in a worthy fourth place in the 2022 tournament, is eager to leave their mark. They will begin the journey in Pool C, which is a difficult group that includes Belgium, Germany, and their first opponent, Canada.

India hopes to establish the pace from the very start of the series against Canada. India has prior won all three of their previous games with the Canadian squad, this fact makes the Indian team more strengthening for their desire to clinch the title.

India enters the FIH Women’s Junior World Cup 2023 with massive psychological boost after their successful win of the Women’s Junior Asia Cup 2023 title in Kakamigahara, Japan earlier this year.

Indian Junior Women’s Hockey Team Captain Preeti expressed confidence and determination for their opening game against Canada, aiming to translate intensive preparation into performance. She continues that this opening match will become a momentum for the campaign.

Coach Tushar Khandker praised the team’s confidence to take up the challenges stating that they have trained themselves rigorously and are mentally prepared for the challenges ahead, looking forward to a strong start against Canada.

After competing against Canada India will face a tough challenge against Germany on 30 November and Belgium on 2 December in the tournament’s Pool stage, requiring a top-two finish for securing the quarter-finals.

The Indian junior women’s hockey team secured third position in 2013 which is their best performance so far. This year they hope to clinch the title. The quarterfinals will be held on 6 December, semis on 8 December and finals on 10 December 2023.