Sushila Chanu not included in ACT hockey squad

MUMBAI: Experienced midfielder Sushila Chanu was a notable absentee from the 20-member Indian women’s hockey team for the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) to be held in Ranchi from October 27 to November 5.

Sushila, who led India at the Rio Olympics, was part of the Indian women’s team that won a bronze medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games last week. Recent updates suggest that Sushila is injured and will consult a doctor to determine the extent of her injury.

Vaishnavi Phalke, who too was in the Asian Games squad, has been named as a replacement player along with Sharmila Devi and will travel with the squad as back-up option.

Baljeet Kaur has replaced Sushila in the squad. Besides Sushila, there were no surprises as such in the squad to be led by goalkeeper Savita. Defender Deep Grace Ekka will continue to be Savita’s deputy.

Besides India, Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand are the other participating nations.

India will open their ACT campaign against Thailand October 27, followed by matches against Malaysia (October 28), China (October 30), Japan (October 31) and Korea (November 2). The semifinals and final are scheduled for November 4 and 5.

“It is an important tournament for us to continue our momentum and our steady improvement as a team. While we performed well at the Asian Games to claim the bronze medal, the upcoming tournament will give us a chance to further improve our standings against our Asian challengers,” India’s chief coach Janneke Schopman said.

“We will get a chance to put our learning from Hangzhou into action and test ourselves once again.”