Chandigarh, April 13
The Sector 42 Astro Turf hockey stadium is abuzz with activity, thanks to the ongoing national women hockey camp for the forthcoming Tests to be played in Australia and New Zealand. Top players of the country such as captain Suraj Lata, Mamta Kharab and Suman Bala among others are under the watchful eyes of coach Maharaj Kaushik.
Under him the Indian girls have already won the gold medal at Afro-Asian Games held in Hyderabad.
The camp in city, however, has given girls much reasons to cheer, since the turf is a newly laid and the weather is not too hot. Mr Kaushik was of the opinion that Chandigarh was a good place for the camp conditioning as it was close to hills and girls were able to build up endurance level. He said women hockey in India has lot of potential and they need sponsor to come up to people’s expectations.
India will be playing first match against Australia on April 28 in Australia at Murwillumbah, second at Toowoomba and third and fourth at Buderim. Then the team will leave for New Zealand and first Test will be on May 4 at Dunedin, second on May 5 at Oamaru, third on May 9 at Christchurch and fourth on May 10 at Christchurch.
