India women’s hockey team finished fifth at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games but captain Ritu Rani said on Wednesday that the performance was an improved one and boosted their morale.
Talking to media ahead of team’s training session at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here for the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea from September 19 to October 4, Rani said their next aim is to win gold medal at the Asian Games and they will do everything to achieve it.
“We have been working hard for the Asian Games and the preparation is very good. Our confidence is high. The performance at the Commonwealth Games boosted our morale,” said Ritu.
“We will be aiming for the gold medal as an event like Asian Games comes once in four years and we do not want to leave any stone unturned,” she added.
Putting her faith in the youngsters, the captain hoped that the mistakes committed during the CWG would not be repeated. “Our main focus will be on scoring more field goals. We are also hoping that our drag-flickers covert more and more penalty corner opportunities that come our way,” Ritu said.
“Youngsters have been given opportunity and we hope that they will be able to score more goals. “We also want to rectify our minor mistakes that we committed at the Commonwealth Games,” she added.
Chief coach Neil Hawgood, however, wasn’t as forthcoming about India’s chances of winning gold and would be happy to reach the finals. But he was also impressed with the improvement.
“The Commonwealth Games were a big improvement. We wanted to secure the fourth position but had to satisfy ourselves with the fifth spot. But this time (in Asian Games) we wish to reach the finals,” Hawgood said.
Hawgood considers the Asian Games a “big challenge” for the Indian eves considering the fact that they haven’t played Asian powerhouses like China and Korea for more than a year.
“We have played a lot of European teams in the last few months and it has been a good experience for the team. “But we haven’t played Asian countries like China, Japan and Korea in the last 12 months and it is going to be a big challenge for us (in the Asian Games). China and Korea are major threats to us,” the coach said.