Some of the most exciting young talents in Asian hockey will be in action at the Women’s Junior Asia Cup this weekend, and with places at next year’s Junior World Cup up for grabs, the stakes are high.
The event, which takes place in the ancient Chinese city of Changzhou from Saturday 5th to Sunday 13th September, offers three direct qualification tickets to the 2016 Women’s FIH Junior World Cup in Santiago, Chile.
Nine teams will be fighting for the chance to take part in that prestigious competition, with China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, DPR Korea, Korea, Japan, Thailand and Chinese Taipei all set to take to the field.
Host nation China will be looking to make home advantage count as they bid to defend the title that they won four years ago in Bangkok, Thailand, although they are likely to face some serious tests along the way. Senior international stars such as Gu Bingfeng and team captain Li Jiaqi ensure that China will be a force to be reckoned with, although they are certainly not the only team in the competition with world level experience amongst the ranks.
2013 Junior World Cup Bronze medallists India, who compete alongside China in Pool A, have also called on players from the senior squad in a bid to secure a ticket to Santiago, with no fewer than seven having featured in the Indian Eves team that finished 5th at the recent FINTRO Hockey World League Semi-Final in Antwerp, Belgium. The star player is undoubtedly team captain Rani Rampal, the prodigious 20-year-old striker who made her international debut at 14 and has gone on to make over 130 world level appearances.
"We are looking forward to playing in Changzhou”, said ace goal-scorer Rani in the build-up to the competition. “The crowd there is very passionate towards the game, and it’s exciting playing in an environment like this as it gives you that extra boost. We are expecting good support for our team, which will help our confidence level and we will play our best hockey to win."
Three other teams will compete in Pool A, with Malaysia, Singapore and the People’s Republic of Korea all aiming to finish as high up the standings as possible.
In Pool B, Korea and Japan will be seen as favourites ahead of group rivals Thailand and Chinese Taipei. Like China and India in Pool A, the Korean and Japanese squads contain players that have made their mark at senior international level. Four times competition winners and 2012 Bronze medalists Korea can count on the experience of Baek Eeseul, who helped the senior team to a second place finish at the HWL event in Antwerp. Japan’s Hazuki Nagai, Ayaka Nishimura and Yukari Mano were also in senior action for their country in Antwerp, ensuring that they too will also be serious contenders in Changzhou.
You can keep track of all the action from Changzhou on www.asiahockey.org, the official website of the Asian Hockey Federation as well as on social media using the #wjac2015 hashtag.
