Rajbir Rai, who led India to the gold in New Delhi Asiad in 1982 where the women's event made its debut has given way to a new generation bubbling with confidence.

Star striker and skipper Pritam Rani Thakran brushed aside any doubts about the physical and mental fitness of her girls by saying simply, ``We are raring to go.''

Gurdial Singh Bhangu, who took over as chief coach when Balbir Singh was axed following the World Cup debacle, has ensured the team does not suffer from lack of match practice.

``We had five practice matches a week during the camp in Patiala. They were against boys' teams as there was no girls' team in India strong enough to test this outfit,'' he said. Immediately after landing here, the team wentinto intensive training sessions and had a practice match against the Kasetsart University boys.

``As per our calculations we should be in the final as we are confident of overcoming China,'' Bhangu said. Korea, China and India are the obvious favourites as all three had qualified for Utrecht. ``Realistically speaking, I would put Korea, India and China, in that order, as favourites, though my girls would be going all out to topple Korea too,'' Bhangu added. The team's morale is high after reaching the semi-finals of the September Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.