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Indian women team’s hockey captain Salima Tete opened up on the return of Hockey India League . Tete said that the upcoming league will open horizons for Indian female hockey players and play a key role in shaping up the careers of young players while building a strong bench strength for the national team. Notably, the popular hockey league is set to be back after a gap of seven years as the 2024 edition will be hosted in December this year.
The league will feature the first standalone women’s hockey league in the country, which will run simultaneously with the men's league. The tournament is set to be held from December 28 to February 1 at two venues. While Ranchi will host all women’s matches, Rourkela is set to host the men's edition of the tournament. The men’s event will feature eight teams while the women’s competition will have six teams.
HIL will give players an opportunity to compete at the highest level: Salima Tete
The Indian skipper expressed her hopes and excitement with the forthcoming tournament and said that it will give players an opportunity to compete at the highest level. Salima, as quoted by Khel Now, said, “I am very excited for HIL, it is restarting after seven years and with a women’s league this time. The whole team has been discussing what a great opportunity this is for us the last few days. We will get to mingle with players from different nationalities, play with them, play against them and improve as players.”
He added, “It will give youngsters who aren’t a part of the senior team a chance to see the daily routines of Indian players and foreign players up close. And being in a high-performance, professional environment early in their career will do wonders for their development. I expect the HIL will be beneficial for players who have been out of the team as well, giving them an opportunity to compete at the highest level and keep themselves sharp.”
