Pro League: On 6-match losing streak, women eye turnaround

Berlin: The Indian women’s hockey team would look to break its six-match losing streak and avoid relegation from the FIH Pro League with positive results against China, starting with the first match here on Saturday.

The Indian women are currently placed at the bottom of the nine-team table with 10 points from 14 games and are in danger of relegation to the second tier FIH Nations Cup in 2026.

It’s not what Hockey India had in its mind when Harendra Singh was brought back on board as the head coach.

After a relatively good outing at home leg earlier this year, the Indian women lost six consecutive matches against Australia, Argentina and Belgium (two matches against one opponent) in the European leg of the tournament.

India will be determined to sign off their Pro League campaign with valuable wins in back-to-back matches against fourth placed China on Saturday and Sunday here.

“It is a very crucial double header for us over the weekend. But we will draw inspiration from the Indian men’s team who finished with an inspiring win against Belgium,” said captain Salima Tete. “This Pro League outing has been a learning experience with several grey areas that we need to work on as a team. We will be introspecting on this performance when we go back home but for now our focus is on doing well against China,” she said.

India will take confidence from their last outing against China where they beat them 3-0 in the pool stage and from their final win in the Asian Champions Trophy last year.