An ever-improving Indian women’s hockey team will look to consolidate its position in the ongoing four-match series when it takes on Australia in the third encounter in Perth on Friday.
The Indian women started the tour on a positive note with Navneet Kaur handing an early lead to the visitors in the series opener before Abby Wilson’s brace ensured a 2-1 win for Australia.
But the Indians bounced back strongly by winning the second match 4-2 in shootout after both the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation time on Wednesday.
The Sjoerd Marijne-coached side showed tremendous fighting spirit with Chanu Pukhrambam equalising for India after Olivia Downes’ 10th minute strike.
The Indians have impressed in most aspects of the game in the tour so far, especially in defence and midfield.
But coach Marijne would be eager to see some field goals from the strikers.
India would look for inspiration from its skipper Salima Tete, who is a livewire on the turf on her day.
The Indians would also look to better their penalty corner conversion rate going into the match.
It promises to be an exciting series as there is hardly anything to separate the two sides in terms of world rankings. While Australia is currently ranked eighth in the world, India is a rung below.
The tour Down Under serves as an important preparatory matches for India ahead of the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup, scheduled to take place in Auckland from June 15 to 21.
The ongoing tour also holds greater significance for India ahead of the FIH World Cup, to be jointly hosted by Belgium and The Netherlands from August 15 to 30.
The upcoming Nations Cup will be India’s opportunity to earn back promotion to the FIH Pro League for the 2026-27 season, which will also be a hockey qualifier for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The final match of the tour is scheduled for Saturday.
Published on May 28, 2026
