Veteran goalkeeper Savita Punia has withdrawn from the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 Qualifiers due to personal reasons, with Salima Tete named as the captain of the 20-member Indian squad.
The 23-year-old Salima has been an integral part of the team for a while after being appointed captain last year.
'I am grateful that they have given me a chance to play now so I have to give my 100 per cent.'
India's women's hockey team, led by captain Salima Tete, is confident of an improved performance in the upcoming Bhubaneswar leg of the FIH Pro League.
The Indian women's hockey team lost 0-1 to Spain in the return leg match of the FIH Pro League.
Defending champions India stormed into the semi-finals of the Women's Asian Champions Trophy with an unbeaten record, defeating Japan 3-0.
Young striker Deepika turned out to be the star again, scoring a fine reverse hit goal as India retained the women's Asian Champions Trophy hockey title after edging past Olympics silver medallist China 1-0 in a pulsating final at Rajgir, Bihar, on Wednesday.
As per the Ministry sources, a special request was made by the BCCI to the sports ministry to include Shami's name as he didn't originally feature in the list of the country's second-highest sporting honour.
Sports Ministry confirms Satwik, Chirag for Khel Ratna, Shami and 25 others for Arjuna award
Besides two goalkeepers, the Asian Games-bound team will have six defenders, five midfielders and as many forwards.
The camp getting underway in Bengaluru on Sunday will conclude on September 18.
The FIH Women's Nations Cup is an important fixture in the international calendar as the champions of this tournament will be promoted to the FIH Women's Pro League 2023-2024 season.
Shami was there to receive the honours. He took 24 wickets in seven World Cup games last year.
Sangita hits hat-trick as India blank Singapore 13-0 in Asian Games women's hockey
The Indian women's hockey team will open their campaign against Singapore on September 27.
The Indian women thus avenged their 0-1 defeat against Japan in the last edition of the Games in Jakarta in 2018.
Besides Rani's exclusion, there are no further surprises as India went or a tried and tested squad, which has been playing together for a long time.
Anelle van Deventer had to make three strong saves at the start of the second quarter to keep India away from stretching their lead in the match.
Indian men's hockey team finish third...
Desperately needing full points from the match, after losing 1-5 to World No.1 Netherlands, 0-2 to Germany and 1-4 to defending champions Great Britain, the Rani Pal-led team scored in the 57 minute through Navneet Kaur to stay in contention for a quarter-final berth.
'We have chosen an experienced side for the Commonwealth Games and the players believe they have a good shot at a medal'
India's 16-member squad for Rio Olympics was announced on Tuesday in New Delhi. Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh will lead the side with SV Sunil as the vice captain.
To play Spain in crossover for QF berth
Gurjit Kaur scored a brace as the Indian women's hockey team dished out a spirited performance to stun Olympic silver medallist Argentina 2-1
Indian eves dished out a dominating performance to notch up a convincing 4-1 victory over Canada in their second match of the London Olympic qualifiers at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday.
Indian eves on Wednesday registered a 3-0 victory over a hapless Azerbaijan in the third match to keep their slate clean in the four-Test hockey series at the Major Dhyan Chand National stadium, in New Delhi, on Wednesday.
How athletes have strived for achieving greatness during extraordinary times.
On Friday, barring a few, most of the team members returned to their native places after being granted the break.
It was heartbreak for India's women's hockey team as it lost 0-3 in the shoot-out to four-time champions Australia after both the teams were tied 1-1 at the end of regulation time in the semi-finals of the Commonwealth Games, in Birmingham, on Friday.
India's women's hockey team fought valiantly in the first two quarters before losing steam and went down 1-5 to world No. 1 the Netherlands in their opening pool match at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday.
Skipper Rani Rampal has been rested for next month's Women's Asian Champions Trophy and in her absence vice-captain Savita will lead an 18-strong Indian hockey team.
Rani Rampal will captain an 18-strong Indian women's team, while experienced goalkeeper Savita will shoulder the duties of vice-captain at next month's Commonwealth Games
India went down fighting to Argentina 1-2 in the semi-finals of the Olympics women's hockey tournament in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
At a felicitation function, in Bhubaneswar, to honour the men's and women's Olympics hockey teams, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, an ardent supporter of the game in the country, announced that the state will continue to sponsor the national hockey teams for another 10 years.
The Indian women's hockey team took giant leap towards Olympic qualification with a near-flawless performance to hammer United States 5-1 in the first-leg of the two-match FIH 2020 Olympic Qualifier.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Frida
His wards might have failed to break the medal jinx at the just-concluded Rio Olympics, but Indian men's hockey team's chief coach Roelant Oltmans says their results in the quadrennial extravaganza were satisfactory if not ideal. India finished fourth in group stage having won two, drawn one and lost two. One of India's win came against eventual gold medallists, Argentina. But the Men in Blue failed to go beyond the quarterfinals having lost 1-3 to silver medallists Belgium.
India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and Deepika won the Dhruv Batra Player of the Year award for men and women, respectively, at the Hockey India second annual awards, in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
Indian Women's Hockey team leaves for Argentina tour.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances