Women's HWL: Coach Sjorne Marijne says India ready to make good start

Indian women's hockey team chief coach Sjoerd Marijne has asserted that his team are fully geared up to make a good start in the upcoming all-important Hockey World League Round 2.

India will play their first match against Uruguay on April 1.

On arriving from a different climatic condition in Bhopal, where the women's team trained since January 14, to 7 degrees in West Vancouver which has seen a few spells of rain in the past week, the team has gotten used to the conditions and are geared up for a good start, stated Marijne.

"We had 10 days to acclimatize and get used to the weather. The difference is about 27 degrees. But the girls have gotten used to this and are ready for the start of the tournament," stated Marijne.

The three-Nation Tournament earlier this week against Canada and Chile has helped the team cope with the weather conditions and get a good rhythm ahead of the start of the tournament.

"It is always good to get a few matches before the start of the tournament. Since this is a short tournament, every match we play is important and there is no reason why we cannot get off to a good start. I have a lot of confidence in the team and we are ready to make a winning start," expressed the Dutchman.

Speaking about Uruguay as an opponent, Marijne said they are a team that play with a lot of passion. "We have seen them play twice so we know a little bit about them. They typically play South American style like Argentina and there is a lot of passion in their game which helps them do well. But we must focus on our own game," he stated.

Meanwhile, skipper Rani stated the team is upbeat and eager to get on with the tournament.

"I believe we have had a good start to this year with a series win against Belarus. Though the results in the two matches we played here against Chile (drew 2-2) and Canada (lost 1-3) didn't go in our favour, it helped us get used to the weather. We found it tough initially as it is cold and rained at times during the matches but the team has gotten used to it now. Coming here early has really helped and we are ready for a good match against Uruguay ," stated Rani .

--ANI