India women's hockey team gears up for stronger show against Argentina
After starting their European leg with two close defeats, the Indian women's hockey team will be determined to bounce back as they take on world No. 2 Argentina in consecutive FIH Pro League matches.
Salima Tete and her team lost 1-2 and 2-3 to Australia over the weekend and will now face a strong Argentine side that has already won seven of its 12 league matches.
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'Argentina is ranked No. 2 in the world and has won 7 of their 12 FIH Pro League matches so far. Coming into this leg of the league, we knew they would be one of the toughest teams to beat,' Tete said, as quoted by Hockey India.
'But we won't go down without a fight -- we'll give it our all in both matches.
The team has been training well to take them on and has been working on various strategies to win crucial points against them,' she added.
India are currently seventh in the standings with nine points, while Argentina hold second position and will aim for full points to keep the pressure on table-toppers Netherlands.
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'As you saw, the team gave Australia a tough fight in the last two matches, and we're planning to do the same against Argentina,' said vice-captain Navneet Kaur.
'We'll give it our all and aim to come out victorious. A win against Argentina will not only help us gain points but will also give the team a big morale boost as we head to Antwerp and then Berlin for our matches against Belgium and China,' she added.
India will play the first match against Argentina on Tuesday, followed by the second the next day.
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