India women step up preparations for Olympic qualifiers
The India eves are in the middle of an extensive training camp and are set to play strong teams in the build up to the qualifiers...
The India women's national team have been handed an unprecedented boost in their bid to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The Indian eves qualified for the second round of the 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Olympic qualifiers after finishing second in their four-team group in the first round which was held in November 2018.
The second round is scheduled for 1–9 April 2019 and the Indian team is already hard at work as they prepare for a momentuous tournament. It is the first time that the women's team has qualified for the second round of the Olympic qualifiers.
The Central Government awarded the All India Football Federation (AIFF) a handy amount of money early in December 2018 to be put to use towards the women's team's preparations. The Indian FA has already charted out a 100-day programme for the women's team which will include extensive training sessions and quality practice matches and will include friendlies against quality opponents.
"Since we qualified for the second round of Olympic qualifiers, our women’s team have begun a camp in Cuttack. The idea is to keep the team together until April. We will play 15-to-20 international games. We have also reached out to various federations in order to finalise our games," said Kushal Das, General Secretary of the AIFF.
"Obviously we have a MoU with the Odisha Government and they are supporting us. Also after our team qualified, we sent a revised plan in our ACTC (Annual Calendar for Training and Competitions) to Sports India which was approved."
The team have already set up camp in Cuttack, Odisha, under the watchful eyes of head coach Maymol Rocky who has called up 35 players including several promising junior team stars.
Never before have any Indian women's team had such great emphasis placed upon them or any significant resources diverted towards their improvement.
Furthermore, the federation are looking to ensure the eves play at least 15-20 international matches in the buildup to the second round of qualifiers where they will most certainly come up against some strong teams.
There are also plans to organise a four-nation women's tournament in Cuttack as well in the coming months.
This should come as big news for the women's national team which rarely plays international matches apart from the occasional qualifying games for AFC and FIFA tournaments.
They won't do anything (like proper league structure, district level league for searching good players etc) for 4 years... then suddenly they will finalize some 20-30 players (based on what, no one knows exactly)... and finally "the exposure tour begins"
Indian women's national team to play friendlies against Indonesia, Hong Kong
In preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Qualifiers Round 2, the Indian Senior Women’s National Team will be playing two matches each against the senior national teams of Hong Kong and Indonesia.
The 25-member squad will leave Indian shores on January 19, 2019, to travel to Hong Kong to play back-to-back friendlies on January 21st and 23rd and thereafter will travel to Indonesia to play matches on January 27th and January 30th.
“In our quest to qualify from the Round 2, we have to play against tough teams and both Hong Kong and Indonesia will provide us with challenges of their own and help in our development,” said Head Coach Maymol Rocky. “The Olympic Qualifiers Round 2 will be a test and a challenge for all of us and we are preparing to script history and make the nation proud.”
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Qualifiers Round 2 are slated from April 1-9, 2019 with the draw for the same yet to take place.
The 25 players selected are as follows:
Goalkeepers: Aditi Chauhan, M. Linthoingambi Devi, Sowmiya Narayansamy, Shreya Hooda
Defenders: Ashalata Devi, Sweety Devi, Jabamani Tudu, Dalima Chhibber, Lako Phuti, Michel Castanha, Poly Koley
There was a federation Cup for Women at Jamshedpur which started on 10th January. Was supposed to be finished by 16th January if I saw the poster correctly. There's more marketing for the inter district Football tournament going in Jharkhand than this.
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India women step up preparations for Olympic qualifiers
The India women's national team have been handed an unprecedented boost in their bid to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The Indian eves qualified for the second round of the 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Olympic qualifiers after finishing second in their four-team group in the first round which was held in November 2018.
The second round is scheduled for 1–9 April 2019 and the Indian team is already hard at work as they prepare for a momentuous tournament. It is the first time that the women's team has qualified for the second round of the Olympic qualifiers.
The Central Government awarded the All India Football Federation (AIFF) a handy amount of money early in December 2018 to be put to use towards the women's team's preparations. The Indian FA has already charted out a 100-day programme for the women's team which will include extensive training sessions and quality practice matches and will include friendlies against quality opponents.
"Since we qualified for the second round of Olympic qualifiers, our women’s team have begun a camp in Cuttack. The idea is to keep the team together until April. We will play 15-to-20 international games. We have also reached out to various federations in order to finalise our games," said Kushal Das, General Secretary of the AIFF.
"Obviously we have a MoU with the Odisha Government and they are supporting us. Also after our team qualified, we sent a revised plan in our ACTC (Annual Calendar for Training and Competitions) to Sports India which was approved."
The team have already set up camp in Cuttack, Odisha, under the watchful eyes of head coach Maymol Rocky who has called up 35 players including several promising junior team stars.
Never before have any Indian women's team had such great emphasis placed upon them or any significant resources diverted towards their improvement.
Furthermore, the federation are looking to ensure the eves play at least 15-20 international matches in the buildup to the second round of qualifiers where they will most certainly come up against some strong teams.
There are also plans to organise a four-nation women's tournament in Cuttack as well in the coming months.
This should come as big news for the women's national team which rarely plays international matches apart from the occasional qualifying games for AFC and FIFA tournaments.
We have an idiom for such article : हवाई किले बनाना (Build Castles in the Sky)
That's All India Football Federation
Indian women's national team to play friendlies against Indonesia, Hong Kong
The 25-member squad will leave Indian shores on January 19, 2019, to travel to Hong Kong to play back-to-back friendlies on January 21st and 23rd and thereafter will travel to Indonesia to play matches on January 27th and January 30th.
“In our quest to qualify from the Round 2, we have to play against tough teams and both Hong Kong and Indonesia will provide us with challenges of their own and help in our development,” said Head Coach Maymol Rocky. “The Olympic Qualifiers Round 2 will be a test and a challenge for all of us and we are preparing to script history and make the nation proud.”
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Qualifiers Round 2 are slated from April 1-9, 2019 with the draw for the same yet to take place.
The 25 players selected are as follows:
Goalkeepers: Aditi Chauhan, M. Linthoingambi Devi, Sowmiya Narayansamy, Shreya Hooda
Defenders: Ashalata Devi, Sweety Devi, Jabamani Tudu, Dalima Chhibber, Lako Phuti, Michel Castanha, Poly Koley
Midfielders: Sangita Basfore, Sanju Yadav, Sumithra Kamaraj, Ranjana Chanu, Indumathi Kathiresan, Ranjita Devi, Manisha
Forwards: Roja Devi, Anju Tamang, Ratanbala Devi, Pyari Xaxa, Dangmei Grace, Sandhiya R., Mamta
India’s Fixtures:
January 21: Vs Hong Kong
January 23: Vs Hong Kong
January 27: Vs Indonesia
January 30: Vs Indonesia