India’s senior women’s rugby sevens team has entered the final phase of its preparations for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, with a national camp underway at the Sports Authority of India’s Netaji Subhas Eastern Centre in Salt Lake.
The Kolkata facility has been the Indian rugby team’s base for major international assignments in recent years, and the ongoing camp will run until September 24 as the coaching staff looks to finalise the travelling squad and fine-tune tactics ahead of the Asian Games.
The women’s rugby sevens competition will be held at the Paloma Mizuho Rugby Stadium in Nagoya from October 1 to 3. India have been drawn in Pool B alongside defending champions China, Hong Kong China and Malaysia.
Speaking to the media at SAI Kolkata on Wednesday, head coach Terence Joseph said execution and consistency would be key to India’s campaign.
“The Asian Games is a big tournament for us. We are looking at details and consistency from the team. A lot depends on how we execute our plans in Japan,” Joseph said.
Joseph also underlined the importance of the Kolkata centre to the team’s development.
“SAI Kolkata has been the home for the Indian rugby team. We have been conducting camps here for the past three years,” he added.
Captain Shikha Yadav said the team would look to carry its recent momentum from the Asia Rugby Sevens series into the Asian Games, while avoiding unnecessary pressure.
“We want to carry the form and consistency from recent impressive performances at Asia Rugby Sevens series into the Asian Games. Rather than putting ourselves under added pressure, we want to remain grounded, follow the pattern and stick to the basics,” Shikha said.
Six players from India’s Hangzhou Asian Games squad — Shikha, vice-captain Dumini Marandi, Kalyani Patil, Vaishnavi Patil, Mama Nayak and Sandhya Rai — are part of the current group preparing for Aichi-Nagoya.
The team finished seventh at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, having returned to the Asian Games after missing the 2014 and 2018 editions. Women’s rugby sevens made its Asian Games debut at Guangzhou in 2010.
A total of 20 players are currently attending the national camp, which has been sanctioned by the Sports Authority of India at a cost of Rs 19.8 lakh. Women’s rugby will have a 13-member Indian contingent at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.
The extended camp is being used to work on team combinations, tactical systems, conditioning, recovery and match analysis under South African head coach Paul Delport and his support staff.
Strength and conditioning coach Kiano Fourie said the players had made significant physical and technical progress over the past few years.
“The ladies have put on good muscle from when they started. We have seen them train more consistently and develop better habits. With these improvements, I am confident they will meet the demands of the Asian Games,” the South African said.
SAI Kolkata Regional Director Sibananda Mishra said the centre would continue to support Indian rugby’s high-performance programme.
“SAI Kolkata has provided all the required facilities, sports science and ancillary support to the Indian rugby team. I assure you that in the future, we will continue to remain a base for both the men’s and women’s squads,” Mishra said.
He added that SAI Kolkata and the rugby federation had been working together to provide quality training support to both national teams.
With the Asian Games less than a month away, the Kolkata camp offers India a crucial period to sharpen its combinations and tactical execution before facing some of Asia’s strongest rugby nations in Nagoya.
