Santiago, Nov 30 ( LatestNewsX ) – The Indian Junior Women’s Hockey Team is all set to kick off its campaign at the FIH Junior Women’s World Cup in Santiago, which opens on December 1 at the Centro Deportivo de Hockey Césped, Estadio Nacional in Chile.
Under the captaincy of Jyoti Singh, India opens the tournament against Namibia. The two sides have yet to meet on the FIH stage, so the first clash is looking to be an engaging test as the players look to shake off any nerves before the high‑stakes event.
To get a head‑start, the squad arrived in Santiago a week early, using the extra time to adapt to local conditions and tighten up their tactics. This edition of the World Cup is historic, as it expands the roster from 16 to 24 teams, a new format that was adopted for the first time in 2025.
Speaking about the team’s preparations, Captain Jyoti Singh said, “We arrived a week early to begin our preparations. The team has adjusted well to the local conditions, and the morale is high. Our first match is against Namibia, and we want to build momentum from the very start.” “The group has been training with great intensity, and every player is eager to execute the plans we’ve worked on. We are fully focused on taking it one match at a time and delivering our best hockey throughout the tournament.”
The 24 teams are divided into six groups. Pool A features hosts Chile, Japan, Malaysia and the Netherlands. Pool B houses Argentina, Belgium, Wales and Zimbabwe. Pool C includes Germany, India, Ireland and Namibia. Pool D brings together Austria, China, England and South Africa. Pool E has Australia, Canada, Scotland and Spain. Finally, Pool F contains New Zealand, South Korea, the USA and Uruguay.
India’s schedule for the pool stage has them taking on Germany on Wednesday, 3 December, followed by a match against Ireland on Friday, 5 December, to finish their group fixture run.
This will mark India’s seventh trip to the Junior Women’s Hockey World Cup. The team’s best finish came in 2013, when they claimed the bronze medal after a dramatic penalty shoot‑out victory over England.
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