Asian Games: India names their softball team in advance of the event’s debut

The 16-person Indian women’s squad was unveiled by the Softball Association of India (SBAI) on Monday. The team will compete for the first time in the 2018 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

Softball will play its first game in the continental tournament on September 23. The team, which also includes a standby and three reserves, was revealed by SBAI. It was chosen after trials for the probables list and a two-week coaching camp-cum-trials conducted in Delhi in June and July.

India received a wild card berth because of their frequent attendance in the Asian championships as a women’s softball team.

The executive committee of Softball Asia authorized India’s wild card admittance in February of this year, according to a press release from SBAI.

“The Indian women’s softball team’s participation in the Asian Games signifies the opportunity for our players to shine and prove their mettle against the best teams in the continent,” SBAI President Neetal Narang said.

She said, “Additionally, this milestone also holds the promise of motivating upcoming generations of young athletes, particularly girls, to choose softball as their sport of choice.”

Maharashtra, the current national champions, provided the most players (five) for the Indian squad.

While there is one player each from Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Punjab each provided three and two females.

Both the Tokyo Olympics and the 2028 Los Angeles Games will include softball as a medal sport.

We want to have a strong squad in time for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, so competing in the Asian Games is our first step, which carries a lot of responsibility.

“We are taking Hangzhou as a strong platform towards our goal of qualifying for the 2028 Olympics,” Narang furthered.

Squad

Anjali Pallikkara, Stephy Saji, Rinta Cheriyan, Mamatha Guguloth, Ganga Sona, Mamta Minhas, Sandeep Kaur, Kumari Manisha, Isha, Swetasini Sabar, Nitya Malvi, and Priyanka Baghel (standby) are among the actresses who would be there.

Manisha Kumari, Priti Verma, and Chitra are the reserves.