Tokyo Olympics: Indian Women Hockey team's Rani Rampal expresses excitement ahead of match

The Indian Women's Hockey Team is all set for the first time in history to participate in their second consecutive Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Rani Rampal led team will go up against the world No.1, Netherlands at the Oi Hockey Stadium on July 24. The captain expressed her excitement and further stated that they were confident about their chances in the competition. The team appeared for the first time at the Olympics in 36 years at the Rio Games in 2016. 

'We can't wait for it to start': Rani on their Olympic encounter 

The Indian team is all set to showcase their performance in their match tomorrow at the Tokyo Olympics after a disappointing spell at the Rio Olympics in 2016. The team has only grown in terms of performance in subsequent years with winning the 2016 Asian Champions Trophy, 2017 Asia Cup, the Silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games and reaching the quarter-finals of the 2018 Women's World Cup for the first time in history.

Adding to these accolades, they also proved their strength at the FIH (International Hockey Federation) Women's Series Finals Hiroshima 2019 when they defeated Japan 3-1 to clinch the gold medal as well as defeating US in the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2019 to book a place in the Tokyo Olympics.

Rani Rampal could not contain her excitement as she expressed the team's enthusiasm for their encounter with the Netherlands. She said, "It's very exciting to be here in Tokyo. We have worked very hard for this tournament in the last five years, and we can't wait for it to start. It's been a long wait for the Tokyo Games, and we are glad that we are just one day away from our first match. All players are looking good during the practice sessions, and we are very confident about our chances in this competition."

Indian women's chief coach Sjoerd Marijne also spoke about the hard work put in by the team players ahead of their match lineups at the event. "The Olympics is the biggest of all tournaments and our team is raring to go. The players have put in all the hard yards and now it's all about going out on the field and giving it their best. This team has played well against the top sides in the recent past and therefore the confidence level in the group is high. We are going to take it one match at a time and try to keep improving with each match.". 

Indian Team's Pool A match schedule

India vs Netherlands - July 24

India vs Germany - July 26

India vs Great Britain - July 28

India vs Ireland - July 30

India vs South Africa - July 31

Post this, the knockout stage will begin on August 2

(With ANI Inputs)

(IMAGE- PTI/ANI)