Women's HIL 2024-25: Soorma Hockey Club one step away from a place in final

Ranchi (The Uttam Hindu): JSW Soorma Hockey Club are a step away from qualifying for the final of the Women’s Hockey India League (HIL) 2024-25. They need to secure at least one point against Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Astroturf Hockey Stadium on Friday to advance to the final of the inaugural edition of the league. “Our approach to this whole campaign has been that we want to win every game we play. So, we're just focusing now on the match against the Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers. That's the most important game for us at this stage so we're taking it one step at a time and after that game, then we look ahead of what we've got to do. We've still got to do the business in the next game,” head coach Jude Menezes said ahead of the key game.

Soorma have been flying high in the League. They are on top of the table having secured three victories and one draw to amass 10 points ahead of the last match in the Pool stage. Sonam has been in scintillating form up front, scoring four goals in five matches for Soorma while Charlotte Englebert has chipped in with two goals. Although, all of their 11 goals have come from open play with the teams struggling to convert from penalty corners across the League. “We're struggling with the initial trap. I think most teams have been struggling with it because if you look at the other teams around as well, there haven't been too many penalty corners being scored. So, I think we need to keep working on it and hopefully, we can actually get some outcomes from there but we are a very strong unit in terms of you know our forwards and our defence is quite compact and strong as well. So, with the quality that we've got in our forward line, we know that we've got the ability to score goals,” he explained.

The last time Soorma took on the Tigers, they came from one goal down to register a commanding 4-1 victory in their first match of the campaign. Olivia Shannon, Charlotte Englebert, Captain Salima Tete, and Sonam found the back of the net to complete an all-round performance on the day. “I think once again the approach will be to try to get some outcomes in the shooting circle, try to score goals, and make sure we're playing a free-flowing, aggressive attacking style which actually suits the way we play,” he signed off.