JOIN USFruitful outing for eves
They were still bleary-eyed after their long journey from Antwerp, Belgium, but their faces betrayed the customary felicity of an unprecedented achievement. Against expectations and history, the Indian women have put themselves on the brink of Olympic qualification and were determined to savour every bit of it.
It certainly wasn’t a performance worth emulation but good enough for a fifth-place finish at the Hockey World League Semi-Finals which kept their Olympic dream alive. An official confirmation will take time after allocation of berths following the completion of all qualification tournaments, but for now the Indian women are content living in the anticipation of being called Olympians, sometime in the future.
The only time Indian women hockey players were part of an Olympic contingent was through an invitation in the 1980 Moscow Games.
On wee hours of Monday, the Indian girls returned to a warm welcome, their losses clearly playing on their minds as much as their ship-saving 1-0 victory over Japan. Goalkeeper Savita Punia, who stood out in the tournament with her brilliant saves, said the team didn’t’ want to lose the last chance of qualifying for the Olympics, the way they did last time.
“We had the last chance of qualifying by grabbing the fifth spot and we resolved to pour our four years of hard work into that,” Savita told Deccan Herald.
“Our goalkeeping coach Helen Mary always tells us whatever the team does, it is in the hands of goalkeepers to win the matches. When we took the lead against Japan, I was only telling myself that there should be no mistake on my part. I felt that if I have sincerely worked hard, then today is the day for me to produce my best.”
For India’s key striker Rani Rampal, the tournament gave her hope after back and shoulder injuries disheartened her to the extent that she felt her career was over after the 2014 Asian Games. “But I really had prepared for this tournament and I performed to my expectations,” said Rampal.
“I am particularly proud of the goal against Japan and the team ensuring the lead is not conceded. Also against Italy, where I scored the equaliser after being down 0-1. At that time I felt if we lose to Italy I won’t ever be able to forgive myself.”
The girls feel they need more exposure trips to compete against the top teams like the Netherlands and Australia. “The difference between us and other top teams is penalty corner attack and penalty corner defence. We need to work on that apart from fitness.
The top teams regularly find PCs and have drag-flickers who convert them,” said Rampal.
Agreed captain Ritu Rani. “We play against Australia and the Netherlands after long gaps and find it tough to play them suddenly. Their game includes a lot of body play, shoulder to shoulder, while in India we play open hockey. We play with mostly Asian countries. So we need exposure trips as it will help us to improve against top teams.”
DH News Service