India women's team leaves for COTIF tournament

Press Trust of India  |  New Delhi 

The Indian women's senior national team will be travelling to to play in the from August 1 to 6.

This is the first time ever that the women's senior team is travelling to to participate in a tournament.

The exposure tour has been arranged by in coordination with keeping in mind the crucial Olympic Qualifiers which are slated to be held in November.

Furthermore, the senior team will also be defending their title in the SAFF women's championship scheduled to be held later this year, a tournament in which the girls are unbeaten in their last 19 matches.

The squad will be leaving Indian shores early morning tomorrow.

The team was given an official send-off at the House where the wished them luck.

"This is a very important trip especially with the Olympic Qualifiers being around the corner. Women in Indian are achieving laurels at the highest level and the Indian women's team is currently unbeaten in World Cup.

The AIFF has extensive plans for women's in and all of you are part of the plan. Good luck for the tournament."

was also present on the occasion.

stated that the team is "looking forward to the challenge".

"It's going to be a wonderful opportunity for us to assess ourselves against the European opponents as well as national team. We're eagerly waiting for it to begin and will put up a brave fight," she said.

"The girls are thrilled to be a part of the historic first-ever exposure trip to We're thankful to and the SAI for arranging the exposure trip which will eventually help us gaining invaluable experiences for the future endeavours," she added.

felt it's "great" to have the exposure tour to

"This exposure tour wouldn't have been possible had not AIFF and SAI arranged it for us. The tour to Europe is a historic one and it will help us overcome the mental barrier of playing against girls in Europe and Africa," she maintained.

India's fixtures stay as follows:

August 1: India vs Fundacin Albacete.

August 3: India vs Levante U.D.

August 5: India vs

August 6: India vs Madrid C.F.

The 20-member squad:

GOALKEEPERS: E. Panthoi Chanu, Aditi Chauhan, O. Roshni Devi.

DEFENDERS: L. Ashalata Devi, Manisha Panna, Th. Umapati Devi, Jabamani Tudu, Dalima Chhibber, Ng. Sweety Devi.

MIDFIELDERS: Sangita Basfore, Sanju, I. Prameshori Devi, M. Mandakini Devi, Indumathi Kathiresan.

FORWARDS: Y. Kamala Devi, Anju Tamang, N. Ratanbala Devi, Ng. Bala Devi, Dangmei Grace, R. Sandhiya Ranganathan.

HEAD COACH:

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First Published: Thu, July 26 2018. 15:55 IST